season three  off the wagon
by bibi 13ca
Summary: So, I know this is not new or anything, but I decided to post my version of season three. There's the result. The story will be about all the characters, just a bit more Damon/Elena. It's rated M for language and blood/violence/crime subject  no smut .
1. Chapter 1

**N**_: So, since I'm totally obsessed with Vampire Diaries and the summer break is driving me crazy, I decided to write my own version of the 3th season (even if there are a few already out there, and some are pretty good) to fix my addiction. I watched the second season a million times so I'd be able to stay true to the characters, now I can't promise I got them perfectly figured out, but I did my best. A new chapter will be posted every Thursday just like the show, if something will prevent me from posting, a new chapter with an announcement will inform you of it._

_As always a big thank you goes to my great beta, __**Valerie (2serendipity**__)!_

_Now on with the show! The story picks up right after the episode ended, enjoy!_

**Every end has a beginning**

"It's ok to love them both; I did."

Elena caught the small bottle flying towards her and looked at it for a moment, not knowing what else to do. As soon as she found the courage to face Damon, she did. He was trying to maneuver himself into a sitting position.

"Damon…" she mumbled, returning to the edge of the bed. "How…are you feeling?" she asked, still not believing they just got the supposedly non-existent 'cure'.

Damon let his upper body lean on the pile of pillows behind him and rolled up his sleeve.

"I think it's working," he said, his voice still weak.

The wound was still red and the green veins looked ready to pop out from under his skin. Elena raised her hand to her mouth to stop a scream and when her eyes found Damon's, they were filled with concern….

"It doesn't look like it's working at all, Damon," she whispered.

"Oh, believe me, it looked a lot worse before."

Elena couldn't imagine that thing looking any worse. The way it looked now was enough to creep her out.

"Are you sure it's working? Maybe I should give you more?" she asked, removing the plug of the small bottle still in her hands.

"No, I'm sure it's getting better. I mean, I still feel like I'm on Prozac, but the pain and the burning sensation are gone. I'm good to go, just give me a minute!" he said, trying to get up.

"Are you out of your mind? You're not going anywhere!" Elena shouted, pushing him back against the mattress. It didn't take much since he was still really weak.

"What? Elena, didn't you just hear what Katherine said? We have to go save the hero!"

"Damon, whatever happened between Stefan and…Klaus will have to wait until tomorrow, because you need to rest!" Elena ordered.

"But…"

"No buts, Damon; one crisis at a time. We just cured you from a 'fatal to vampires' werewolf bite. We don't even know what happened; Stefan's not exactly the impulsive one. I'm sure that whatever he did, he didn't put himself or anyone else in danger," she said, calmer than she was. In fact, she was terrified, too terrified to even think about it. She was scared of whatever Klaus wanted from Stefan, but for now…she'd just got Damon back from the dead, practically. Thinking she'd lost Damon forever had been enough for today; that was all her fragile heart could take at the moment. Plus, it's not like they could go after Klaus like this. Damon was still healing and she was…well, in shock.

"Please Damon, get some rest, we'll deal with it tomorrow, please!" she begged.

"Fine, but I need a shower if you don't mind, I'm soaked," he said and she helped him to the bathroom.

Elena had to keep herself occupied or she'd go crazy. So she took clean sheets from the drawer and replaced the old ones. She took a pillow in her arms and lifted it to her face, taking a deep breath; the pillow smelled like him, just as everything in this room smelled like him. God, she still couldn't believe she'd almost lost him…. seconds later she heard the shower running.

She took her phone from her jacket and climbed into the bed; she texted Stefan, asking him where he was. She waited for an answer, just staring at the phone until the sound of the running water stopped. She put the phone on the night stand next to her, giving it one last look.

"So, how are you…" she started once she heard the bathroom door open, but the words got stuck in her throat when she saw a half naked Damon appearing in front of her; the only thing between her eyes and his completely naked body was a small white towel around his waist.

"I'm sorry, I thought you'd be gone by now," he apologized and Elena moved on the bed uncomfortably, doing her best to tear her eyes away from him…but she couldn't deny herself the feast. So she was in a relationship; that didn't make her blind.

"I'll go put some clothes on," he said and all Elena could do was nod.

Using his vampire speed he was by the closet in a split second and he soon disappeared back into the bathroom.

Elena blinked a few times and started breathing again.

"You can go home, Elena. I'll be fine. I promise I won't do anything stupid!" he said, coming back towards the bed. He climbed on the other side of it and turned to her, "I won't run away."

"I'm going to stay. I _want_ to stay to make sure you're still here when I wake up in the morning," she said.

"I'm sure I'll be as good as new after a few hours of sleep."

"Would you stop, just stop! Damn it, Damon, stop pushing me away! Don't you get it? I'm not going anywhere…I will always be here for you…_always_," she yelled, leaving Damon speechless. "Now stop being a baby! I think this enormous bed of yours is big enough for the both of us, but if you want, I can sleep in the arm-chair or on the floor, as long as I'm in the same room as you."

"No…I…you can stay here…" he muttered.

She pulled the covers over them and turned off the lamp on her side.

"Good night, Damon," she whispered.

"Good night, Elena."

They were both lying at opposite sides of the bed, as if they were trying to avoid catching a mortal disease from one another…but their hands met in the middle of the bed and their fingers tangled, holding on tight.

By the time Elena fell asleep, Damon had never been more awake in his life – or undead life. He was listening to the most amazing sound in the whole universe, Elena's heartbeat and her quiet breathing. The events of the night replaying in his mind over and over again….

She'd told him she liked him, _just the way he was_…and then…then she'd _kissed_ him, she had fucking _kissed him_. But then again, she'd thought he was dying, so…that was so like Elena Gilbert, to do something sweet for someone who was dying, even if they didn't deserve it.

Katherine got free and she still came to bring him the cure; she didn't just run away like she usually did as soon as she got the chance; she came back, to save him. Had she really said she loved him? Yeah, she'd said she loved them _both_, not just Stefan…she'd loved _him_ too. Why did it matter anyway? She had still ruined his life.

Before he had the time to figure everything out, he fell asleep, listening to the rhythmic sound of the heart he 'lived' to protect…the heart that belonged to his brother…or did it?

Stefan was looking at the man holding the car-door open for him to get in. Klaus was already inside watching his every move, like he was always watching him now…but it didn't matter, because _nothing_ mattered anymore.

He removed the phone from his pocket and stared at it for a few seconds. There was a picture of him and Elena on the wallpaper, they were smiling …but he felt nothing, looking at it…. He walked to the car and just before he got in, he let the device drop to the ground at his feet; the door closed with a short click and he could see the proud smile on Klaus's face out of the corner of his eye.

The driver started the engine and the car departed with screeching tires… one of the tires ran over Stefan's phone, breaking the screen in a million pieces.

Stefan knew he would never come back to this town again, but he didn't even take a last look at the town that he had once called home. He came here in search of a life and he was leaving it in search of death. He didn't care about anything or anyone anymore, he didn't feel any pain, he didn't feel any regret, he felt simply … _nothing_. The only thing he wanted to do now was to rip someone apart until its body was no longer recognizable, because nothing mattered anymore …_nothing_.

Katherine stopped running only when she got to her destination. She knocked on the door a few times before someone opened it at a crack small enough to be able to see who was on the other side.

"Is your master home?" Katherine asked, and the young girl tilted her head to one side, watching the vampire with an inquiring look.

"Who's asking?" the girl wanted to know.

"Tell him Katerina's here to see him!" she answered and a man appeared behind the blonde girl.

"You've got some nerve showing up on my doorstep, Katerina," the man said.

"I need your help, Adney… Klaus broke the curse…" she whispered.

"Let her in, my dear!" he told the girl.

"Please, come in!" she said and Katherine stormed inside.

"I suppose you know where my father is right now?" the man asked and Katherine nodded and pulled a small red handkerchief from her pocket.

**N**: _So this is it for the first chapter. As you probably figured out, Stefan turned off his emotions while Damon has too many. Now to explain a bit why Elena didn't just jump up to go rescue Stefan; well, because, first she was still in shock from almost losing Damon, then Katherine storming in with a cure telling her she loves them both; she trusts Stefan to take care of himself; she doesn't know they are about to leave town and she's smart enough to know they wouldn't stand a chance against Klaus at this time._

_Now, I do have one request to you, if you like it, please review and tell me, since I don't get paid for it, your words are the only thing pushing me to write and I really want your opinion on it! I have many stories in progress and I don't want to neglect them writing this if no one likes it. _


	2. Chapter 2

**N**: _Here is the next 'episode'; I hope you guys will like it._

_Thank you to all of you that reviewed this, it means a lot to me, please continue to do it (the story needs your reviews to survive just like a show needs the viewers)!_

_Also a huge thank you to my wonderful beta, Valerie (2serendipity) for her amazing work on this!_

_Now, enjoy the ride!_

**Are you lost?**

Elena opened her eyes and noticed two things at the same time: one, she was in Damon's bed; second, she felt a cold breath in the middle of her head.

As if it was a movie, every event from last night played in her mind. Coming to see Damon, being caught by the sheriff, breaking the window at the police station, looking for Damon, finding him, Damon confusing her with Katherine and biting her, Damon telling her he loved her, her telling him she liked him just the way he was, her kissing him, Katherine storming in with the cure…the flashes came so quick that they were giving her a headache.

Her eyes slid lower and she noticed her left hand holding Damon's right one, intertwined on his chest. She looked up to meet his face; he opened his eyes and she felt like she had just been hit by a wave, not knowing up from down.

"See, still alive…I mean, as alive as a dead person can be," he said and she smiled, happy that he was ok.

Suddenly she veered into a sitting position and grabbed her phone from the night stand, expecting a message from Stefan, but there was nothing.

"Damon…Stefan…he didn't…he always answers my messages. Something must have happened to him, Damon…we need to…"

"Elena, hey…" he put a hand on Elena's arm to calm her down, "It will be ok; call Alaric, ok? Tell him to come to the house. I'll call Blondie," Damon said, getting off the bed and walking to his desk to grab his phone.

Alaric woke up at the sound of his phone going off. He pulled the noisy thing out of his pocket.

"Yes…"He mumbled.

"Alaric, is that you?"

"Elena? Elena, what's wrong? Oh, my God…Is it Damon? I'm sorry, Elena. I brought Jeremy home and I decided it would be best to stay here tonight and…God, I can believe he's gone…"

"Alaric!"

"He was…I can't believe it! I'll miss the guy…"

"Alaric, listen to me!" Elena demanded, "Damon's fine, Katherine came with the cure just in time," Elena said, before Alaric went on rambling.

"Katherine… the cure? There's a cure for that? And Damon's…"

"He's fine…but…"

"There's a 'but'?"

"Stefan's missing…"

"What do you mean 'missing'?"

"Yes…well, not exactly 'missing'. When Katherine came here last night to bring us the cure, she said something and I'm starting to believe it's true."

"Well, what did she say?"

"She said that he gave himself over to Klaus in exchange for the cure."

"So let me get this straight," Man, was he hung-over! Was she really telling him Damon had survived a werewolf's bite and Stefan had switched sides? "Stefan's with _Klaus_ now?" he asked, just to make sure he understood her correctly.

"Yes, and I don't know what to do…I...he…"

"Elena, it's ok. Everything's going to be fine. I'll go wake Jeremy and we'll be there in half an hour. Just call Bonnie!"

"I will; thank you Alaric…" she said before hanging up.

Alaric stood still for another five minutes. This was his life now: vampires, werewolves, witches, doppelgangers, you name it! It had it all. For some reason, he felt responsible for Jeremy and Elena. He owed it to Jenna to at least try and be there for them.

He made his way upstairs and knocked on Jeremy's bedroom door.

"Come in!" he heard.

"We need to go!" he said and Jeremy shook his head.

"I'm not going anywhere. I had the weirdest night! I thing I'm sleepwalking; it's either that, or I'm seeing the ghosts of my ex-girlfriends and my head is about to explode."

"Well, teenage drama will have to wait. Elena needs us; Stefan's missing."

"What?" Jeremy asked, surprised.

"Well, apparently Klaus had a cure for Damon's bite and Stefan offered himself to Klaus in order to get that cure," Alaric explained.

"I'll be down in a minute," Jeremy said and Alaric closed the door and headed back to the living room.

Elena was pacing from one side of the room to another, feeling that if she didn't move, she'd go crazy.

Damon let out an unnecessary breath and walked over to his liquor cabinet. He poured himself a generous portion of bourbon and took a seat on the couch.

"I'll have one of those," Elena said.

Damon needed a moment to remember where he had heard those exact words before. Oh, he remembered, the Masquerade ball. Katherine had asked him the exact same thing.

"I don't think that would help you," Damon said to her.

"I don't care; I just need to do something."

"How about dusting?" Damon asked.

"Damon…"

"Elena…" he mocked.

Their 'discussion' was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Damon yelled and Bonnie and Caroline came in. Using her vampire speed Caroline stood in front of Damon in a split second.

"You're ok…" she whispered.

"Yeah, I have a thing for breaking the odds," he said.

"I…" she started, but then decided to just go with what she really wanted to do. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight, "Thank you…for saving my life…and for saving Tyler's…" she murmured in his ear.

"You're welcome," he said, barely audible.

"Oh, thank God you're here," Elena exclaimed, walking towards Bonnie.

Elena didn't have time to explain the situation to the girls before Alaric and Jeremy stormed inside.

"Finally! What did you guys do, crawl here?" Damon asked.

"You're alive…" Alaric said.

"Well…technically I'm still dead," Damon said and Alaric rolled his eyes.

"For what it's worth, I'm glad you didn't die," he said and Damon felt a warm sensation pass through his entire body. Someone cared about him, someone was glad he was still a living-dead-person. That felt good… it felt good to know that someone cared whether he lived or died.

"Yeah, me too, dude," Jeremy said clapping Damon's shoulder.

"Well, I'm touched you are all so euphorically happy to see me," Damon said, "but as you can see, we're in a mess again. Alaric and I will go check his apartment," he continued and Elena made her way towards him.

"I'm coming with you," she said, sounding determined.

"No, you're not. You'll stay here and be safe," he said, looking at her. "Or I will lock you in the basement!"

"Fine," she mumbled and Damon and Alaric made their way out. Before they had the chance to leave the house, Elena yelled after them: "Wait!" she took something out of her bag, ran towards them and placed it inside Alaric's hand. "I think this belongs to you more than it belongs to me," Elena said and Alaric stared at the ring that he was now holding in the palm of his hand.

He glanced at Elena and she nodded; then he put the ring on his finger.

"Thank you," he said.

"You're welcome…take care of him!" Elena said, glancing at Damon who rolled his eyes at her.

"I will," he assured her.

Matt opened the door and took a step back.

"Tyler…what are you doing here?" he asked, surprised.

"I'm here to talk to you. Can I come in?" Tyler asked, moving uncomfortably.

Matt had been his friend for as long as he could remember. He really cared about him, but right now, it was all messed up. Matt now knew what he was and didn't want anything to do with that. Tyler didn't want to lose Matt's friendship, but he couldn't force Matt to stick around. He'd almost killed the guy, for Christ sake. And then there was Caroline…sweet, caring, stubborn, impulsive, amazing Caroline. He had fallen in love with her without any warning. He just had, and he couldn't imagine _not_ loving her. But she loved Matt…and why wouldn't she?

"Sure," he heard Matt's voice, pulling him out of his trance.

He stepped inside and looked around, trying to find the words.

"Well, first…I'm sorry about last night…I have no control once I turn," he said and all Matt did was nod. "I never wanted to hurt you or Caroline…"

"I know, man…"

"Caroline told me that you don't want anything to do with all of this…" he said, waiting for…what _was_ he waiting for? Oh yeah, he wanted his friend back, he _needed_ his friend back.

"I'm sorry Tyler, but it's all too much for me," Matt said apologetically.

"Ok, maybe I don't deserve it, but don't you think all this is worth it, just to be with her?" Tyler asked. "Do you think that Caroline deserves to have you turn your back on her, just because things look complicated? She's been through so much…she needs you. I did that to her, I ran away, I turned my back on her when she needed me. Don't make the same mistake I did!"

"You love her. You'll take care of her…"

"I do and I will…but she loves you, man, _you_, not me."

"She loves you too; she just doesn't know it yet," Matt said in a sad voice.

Stefan arrived at the bar just ten minutes past 1:00 am and parked his car on the opposite side of the street. He rolled down the car-window and put his hand on the edge of the door, waiting….

The girl came out, talking on the phone half an hour later. She was practically yelling, so Stefan had _no_ trouble eavesdropping on that conversation.

"_No mom, I'm fine. I didn't drink, I promise; ok, I will; I have my car, I'll be ok, no need to wake dad. Alright, I'll be there in 20 minutes; I love you too, mom, see you at home."_

The human part of him _almost_ felt bad for what he was about to do…_almost_; but it lasted for about two seconds. For two little seconds, he felt it all…guilt, pain, regret, love, hate…. He growled and pushed every single feeling and every ounce of rational thought deep into his subconscious. He got out of the car and made his way towards the girl, whose name he had found out yesterday. It was Vanessa.

His steps were sure and smooth, like a feline stalking its prey; his hands were in the pockets of his dark jeans. He wore a cross around his neck, his own way of mocking faith; the gold necklace contrasting with the tight, immaculate, white t-shirt he was wearing. Everything, from his car and the way he walked to his clothes was screaming bad-boy and he couldn't help but laugh, thinking he was certainly beating his brother at his own game.

"Excuse me? I'm sorry to bother you, but I seem to be lost here. Could you point me in the right direction?" he asked. People back home would probably think he'd stolen the line from one of Damon's note-books, but truth be told, when he had been using these lines, Damon had been mooning over Katherine with a blood bag in his hand. He'd done this more times than he wanted to admit.

"No problem, where are you headed?" she asked with a friendly smile.

"Johnny's Pub; I heard it's nearby, but I don't know where it is," he replied.

"Well, you're close; it's right outside of town, about another 20 minutes drive straight ahead. You can't miss it; the sign is pretty big and bright."

Stefan couldn't help but appreciate her pale golden beauty. She was tall and slim, with long, blond and slightly curly hair cascading over her bare shoulders; being a vampire, he was able to see her clear blue eyes checking him out and her white teeth biting her pink bottom lip.

"Thank you. You've been really helpful," Stefan said, giving her a bright smile.

"You're not from around here, are you?" she asked, drawing out the conversation.

"No…I'm just passing through; I have to meet someone…"

"At Johnny's bar," she said.

"Smart girl! You know, it's a shame. You should probably call your mom and tell her you won't be coming home, since she's waiting for you! Oh, and while you're at it, tell her your brother won't be arriving home either," he said, watching carefully as the girl's face changed from content to scared in mere seconds.

"My…my brother? Why won't he be arriving home?" she whispered.

"Because I killed him," he said matter-of-factly and paused for effect, "And now I'm going to kill _you_."

The girl screamed and turned around. She started running without looking back, her hand frantically searching her bag, probably looking for her car keys. Before she had the chance to get far though, she ran right into Stefan, whose long sharp fangs were already fully down. His eyes had turned a bloody red with purple-blue veins around them.

"You probably should have gone the other way," he suggested nonchalantly. He could smell her fear, and he delighted in it, so he deliberately took a deep, unnecessary breath, to take it in.

The blonde turned around and started running again, away from Stefan. Fear was long gone…she was beyond terrified; the way he liked it. Just like the first time, her sprint didn't last long: she soon bumped into Stefan again.

"Please don't hurt me… Please!" she begged, her eyes filling with tears.

Stefan smiled like a ferocious dog that had caught a poor, defenseless kitty. He simply loved it when they begged like that!

"Don't you _want_ to join your brother, Vanessa? What was his name again? Oh yes, Chance…" The girl started to shake her head violently.

Stefan grabbed her arm and turned her around, pulling her back against his chest. He tangled his hand in her hair, his fingers wrapping around her messy curls, and pulled at her hair, forcing her head to one side. He brushed away the hair, revealing the long line of her neck. She moaned as he brushed his lips over her flesh, exactly where her pulse was beating crazily.

"Please, don't!" She sobbed now, barely audible.

"But you _smell_ so good…" he murmured, licking the area with the tip of his tongue, "Don't worry. I won't waste any of your delicious blood," he said, and finally allowed his teeth to penetrate her skin. She let out a sharp cream, and then she closed her eyes, waiting for death to take over. He stopped sucking only after her heart had stopped beating and licked the blood off his lips.

He took a small knife out of his pocket and drew a messy line on her neck to disguise his bite marks. A ripper knew how to cover his tracks if he wanted to. He picked up her body and placed it gently in her car. Without a second look, he climbed in his own car and drove for 20 minutes straight.

The bar was empty, except for some guys and a single girl sitting at the bar. He walked in the girl's direction.

"Are you Harmony?" he asked and the girl turned to face him.

"Who wants to know?"

"Klaus…"

**N**_: I hope you enjoyed reading dark Stefan as much as I enjoyed writing it._

_Don't forget to review! _


	3. Chapter 3

**N**_: So it's that day of the week again…new update. I noticed you guys already started to lose interest in this story; I would very much love if you'll tell me what's wrong with it so I'll change it!_

_Thank you to Valerie (2serendipity) for her beta work!_

**What you look at it's what you see**

"Bonnie, I need to talk to you," Jeremy said, grabbing Bonnie's hand.

"Can't this wait? Elena's freaking out…" she said.

"I'll check on her, you go ahead and…talk…" Caroline said, speeding up the stairs.

"What is it, Jeremy? Is something wrong?" Bonnie asked, once the blonde vampire had disappeared. Jeremy sat down on the couch and took a deep breath. What was he going to tell her? 'So, yeah, I'm kind of being haunted by my ex-vampire girlfriends and yes, I think it has something to do with what you did to bring me back to life'? He wasn't even sure he hadn't dreamed it. As soon as he saw them, he'd run into the bathroom to wash his face, so he couldn't have been asleep, right?

"Jeremy…" she whispered, or maybe she yelled; it was all the same to him. Everything was so fucking messed up right now. He had lost the only parent he had; his uncle had sacrificed himself to save his sister's life, said sister was now going out of her mind because her boyfriend had made a deal with the devil himself in order to save his brother, and to top it all, he'd just had a rendez-vous with Vicky _and_ Anna.

Maybe he should wait a few days, at least until all these new problems passed; or until he was sure what he'd been seeing. Yeah, he shouldn't put this on her, not now.

"I…" he started, "I wanted to spend more time with you," he said and it was true, he wanted to spend time with his _living_ girlfriend. "I almost lost you and…I just want to get to know you."

Bonnie looked at the boy…wait, he didn't look like a boy anymore! He looked like a man; life had forced him to grow up…so soon, too soon. She loved him, she really did and she wanted to spend time with him too. It was just that her friend, her very best friend, needed her right now and she couldn't neglect that.

"Elena…" Caroline whispered, knocking on the already opened door to Stefan's room. Elena sat in the middle of the bed, hugging a pillow, but as soon as she saw Caroline in the doorway she let it go and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Are they back?" she asked, and Caroline's unbeating heart ached for her. Bad things just _wouldn't_ stop happening to this girl: didn't she deserve a damned break?

She walked into the room and shook her head, letting Elena know that Alaric and Damon hadn't returned yet. Then she took a seat on the edge of the bed, taking Elena's hand into hers.

"Elena, are you ok?" she asked.

"I let him go…I should've stopped him, but I didn't," Elena said, her voice breaking and the first hot salty tear rolling over her cheek. "He told me he was going to ask Klaus for the cure, but I didn't even try to stop him…what if…"

"Elena, don't!" Caroline stopped her before she had the chance to finish her sentence.

Elena just couldn't stop feeling that this was her fault, just like everything else that had happened over the past year. She had been the key to break that stupid curse: if she would've just died in that stupid car accident along with her parents…everyone would've been safe.

"You can't blame yourself for this, Elena; it's _not_ your fault!" Caroline shouted again, but Elena didn't hear her.

Damon was waiting for Alaric to come up the stairs.

"I get you're old, Ric, but could you please hurry up!" Damon said and Alaric gave him a cold stare.

"Well, go ahead, it's not like you need to be invited in!" Alaric told him, and Damon raised an eyebrow at him, then looked at the door.

"From what I hear, there's no one inside," he said, "I'll go check it out; you stay here and look for…vampires."

"Are you sure, are you…well you know, you did got bitten by a werewolf and almost died only a few hours ago."

"I'm fine, Ric. But your concern for me is really touching," Damon mumbled, placing his palm on his chest where his heart should be.

"I promised Elena I would look after you," Alaric defended himself.

"Lately everything everybody's doing seems to be for Elena…" Damon remarked.

"Look who's talking!"

"Oh, shut up!" Damon said and opened the door, carefully slipping inside. "It's empty," he said over his shoulder, and Alaric followed him.

"Oh, my God!" he exclaimed upon entering, his eyes on the pile of empty blood bags in the middle of the room. There were enough of them to feed Damon for a month.

Damon walked into the kitchen and picked up a shiny object from the table. He turned the bracelet around in his fingers a few times. He was sure he had seen the object before, but he couldn't remember where. He turned it again, and that's when he saw the charm he so well knew attached to it; the one with the minuscule Oppenheimer** Diamond in the middle; a very rare diamond that had taken all of Damon's and his father's connections to acquire.**

**"Katherine…" he murmured, putting the object in his pocket.**

**"Did you find anything?" Alaric asked.**

**"Not really. Did you know if he was planning an alliance with Klaus?" Damon asked.**

**"No, he just told me to keep an eye on you until he found something. I was planning on doing just that, but then the sheriff stormed in and you took off. After Jeremy got shot, I…"**

**"Wait, what? Jeremy got ****_shot_****? But he was just at the house! And he looked…"**

**"Bonnie brought him back to life," Alaric explained and Damon widened his eyes in appreciation.**

**"How did he die? I thought if he had his ring, he wouldn't need his girlfriend to resuscitate him?"**

**"Well, it was Liz who shot him. The ring only works on supernatural death."**

**"What the…and when did all of that happen?"**

**"Well, Jeremy found you in the crowd and took you to the Grill. Sheriff Forbes was determined to end your life before the wolf's bite did, so she fired at you, but you were suddenly gone and Jeremy was standing right behind you."**

**"Damn, shit, shit, this is not good. I don't have the time to sweeten things up with the sheriff, alias vampire-hunter-wannabe, right now. Does Elena know about it?" he asked.**

**"No, and maybe we should keep her out of this too," Alaric suggested, looking around, "At least for now. Are you sure it was Stefan who drained all of those bags?" he asked, pointing to the mountain of empty bags.**

**"Damnit, Stefan!" Damon cursed, "Yes, I'm sure. Klaus wouldn't need this many and even if he had, he would've just gone for the fresh stuff. I think Klaus forced Stefan to drink them. He known what would happen…he wanted it to happen…"**

**"So we can expect a replay from last year?"**

**"What happened last year was nothing compared to this. It will be just like years and years back…" Damon said, taking a trip down memory lane in his mind.**

**"That bad?"**

**"You have no idea! Well, imagine me when I came to Mystic Falls, only ten times worse!" he said and Alaric looked at him, terrified.**

**"Yep…"**

**The ringing of Damon's phone interrupted him. He answered it, slightly annoyed.**

**"Is Elena ok?" was the first thing he asked. "Now is not a good time, Blondie…" he stopped abruptly and Alaric knew it had to be bad if Damon shut up to actually listen to someone else.**

**"I'll check it out. Ok, keep Elena out of this!" he said and hung up.**

**"Who was that?"**

**"Caroline; it looks like we just got our first clue."**

****

**Stefan watched the woman place her glass back on the counter before standing up and walking out of the bar without a word. He waited three full minutes before going after her.**

**"Tell Klaus ****_nothing_**** changed since the last time he found me! In order to break the curse he ****_needs_**** the moonstone ****_and_**** the doppelganger. There's ****_no_**** other way."**

**Stefan's face changed for a split second at the word 'doppelganger', but he immediately recovered and every emotion was wiped away from his face.**

**"He already broke the curse and he told me to tell you that it's time for the second part," Stefan said and the woman's face lit up. She took a step back and looked around. **

**"Not here…" she whispered, so quiet that even Stefan had trouble hearing her.**

Caroline handed Elena the steaming cup of tea, then she turned around, ready to leave. She told Elena she was going to call her mom. Her phone had been buzzing non-stop for the past half hour and Caroline was starting to think that something must _really_ be wrong.

Her phone started vibrating again as soon as she closed the door behind her.

"Hey mom, what's wrong?" she asked

"_You told me you and…your…friends don't kill people, Caroline. I believed you…"_

"Kill…what are you talking about? I didn't even leave the house last night and this morning I drove straight here, to the Boarding house," Caroline protested.

"_Well, then Damon did it. Look, I know I told you I wouldn't do it, but he can't just go around killing people…I can't just let this go. I need to kill him…"_

"Mom, you're not killing anyone! I'm pretty sure Damon didn't kill anyone either. He has been with Elena all night."

The sheriff explained the situation to her daughter and Caroline managed to calm her down and convince her to let Damon take a look at it.

As soon as she hung up, she called Damon, who took forever to answer his phone. She repeated all her mom had told her, word by word and he told her he'd take care of it. She promised she wouldn't tell Elena anything about the whole situation _yet_, since she _wouldn't_ be able to do anything about it anyway.

Caroline turned around and walked down the hall, opening the door of Stefan's bedroom just to see that Elena was sleeping, curled up on the left side of the bed. She hurried over and covered her friend with a blanket; then she got out of the room, careful not to wake her up.

Katherine stuck the oversized suitcase in her trunk and got into the driver's seat. Adney followed her, getting in the passenger seat.

"So, now we're going to Mystic Falls?" he asked.

"Yes, there are a lot of people there that will be _more_ than willing to help," she answered, starting the engine, putting the car in reverse. She pulled the car out of the garage, turned it around and got it on the road.

"And you'll take off after to look for…"

"Stefan," she added.

"What's with you and this guy?" he asked and Katherine turned to face him.

"There's nothing with me and him. He will lead me to Klaus. I find him, I find Klaus," she said; no emotions in her voice or her face.

"Aha, if you say so…" Adney said, not believing her for a second. "We know each other for like, what? Three hundred years now…"

"Actually, three hundred and twenty-two, but who's counting," Katherine said and he raised an eyebrow at her.

"I told you not to crush on me, Katerina! I told you that every time I look at you, I see my mom…" he said and she smiled.

Damon examined the body of the young girl. Somehow he felt repulsed by it and by the monstrous way she'd been killed – even if he used to do that himself. For some reason he couldn't see the appeal in it anymore. Alaric came closer and bent down, ready to hear Damon's verdict.

"It was Stefan…" was all he said and the teacher nodded. Damon knew. He'd recognize that bite in a million. He had been cleaning up his brother's messes over the years enough times to be sure.

How is he going to explain _this_ to Elena? He really hoped he'd be able to be there for her without screwing things up (like he usually did). He knew she'd need him and he needed her to need him. Could he _be_ more pathetic? To want to be there for a girl that's crying is one thing, but to want to be there for the girl crying over your brother….

"What now?" Alaric asked.

"Now…now we better find a way to kill a thousandand something years old vampire-werewolf, because I'm afraid that's the only way to get Stefan back," Damon answered, standing up.

"And how are we going to do that?"

"I have _no_ idea…"

**N**: _Please take a minute and review, I really want to hear your thoughts on this! :)_


	4. Chapter 4

**N**_: So, it's that day of the week again, yay! This story started with 21 reveviews for the first chapter but somehow ended up with less than ten for the latest one. Tell you what, every one that reviews get's spoilers from the next 'episode'._

_As always, a gig thank you goes to my beta Valerie (2serendipity), she'd been great!_

**Wedding bells**

Her dress was _so_ white, just like she had dreamed it. A unique gown – something new - with a fitted bust and waist from where it expanded outwards to a full voluminous skirt; the bodice featured lovely beading details and an ivory striped pattern. The full skirt was billowy and soft, embroidered with floral details. Her hair was falling in waves over her bare shoulders, caressing her flesh. She looked like a misplaced angel.

Her mom's pearls – something old - were draped into her cleavage. In her hair was the pin her father had given her on her 14th birthday – that was something blue. Both objects were making her feel close to her parents. Her mother would've been so proud…. Finally she looked at her feet to find Jenna's ridiculously high heels – something borrowed. God, she missed her crazy aunt right now…'no time for this Elena, you're getting married!' she told herself.

The wedding march started playing and she squeezed the beautiful bouquet of orchids in her hand. The flowers were white and soft pink, the pink shade matching perfectly with her pink lips and the minuscule heart-shaped earrings in her ears.

"Are you ready, Elena?" Alaric asked and she nodded.

"Don't worry, we're right behind you," Caroline said and Elena turned around.

Both her best friends were there, holding their own gorgeous bouquets. Theirs were made only from pink flowers; they were wearing coral- colored dresses and Elena thought they looked absolutely beautiful. She felt tears forming in her eyes, but she fought them back; she couldn't ruin her make-up on her own wedding day. Bonnie winked at her and she smiled in return.

"I'm ready," she said taking Alaric's arm.

They started their procession towards the altar, slowly. Out of the corner of her eyes, Elena could see the whole town gathered there. They were watching her with big smiles on their faces.

She couldn't believe she was getting married; _she_ of all people: she thought she would _never_ get married. The weird part was that she couldn't remember how she got here. She took a quick look at her left hand; her pink diamond was still there, as beautiful as ever. She guessed that it didn't really matter that she couldn't remember how he'd proposed; probably it was normal for brides to black out like that…from the emotions and all.

As she got closer, she noticed that the man waiting for her at the altar wasn't Stefan. It was the hair that first tipped her off; it was not its usual soft dark brown, _his_ hair was as dark as the sky on a moonless night and his eyes were bluer than the sky on a summer day. He was standing there straight and confident, outshining all the men in the room without even trying.

She suddenly turned around facing her friends.

"Damon! I can't marry Damon!" she whispered and Caroline rolled her eyes.

"She's panicking again…" Caroline complained and Bonnie nodded.

"I can't…"

"Elena, you love him and you chose to marry him," Alaric said softly.

"But…but…Stefan…" she mumbled.

"I don't think he'll mind," Caroline said, pointing ahead.

Elena turned around and Damon wasn't there anymore; the image of Stefan standing in front of the altar holding Katherine's hand swam before her eyes.

"We are gathered here on this beautiful day to celebrate the union of Stefan Salvatore and Katherine Pierce…" the priest started and Elena felt like she was about to faint. This couldn't be happening. Stefan didn't love Katherine; he loved _her_, Elena Gilbert.

"Stefan, what are you doing?" she asked, but it looked like no one could hear her. She turned around, but Caroline and Bonnie had vanished. Alaric wasn't there either. "Stefan…" she tried again.

"Elena…" a voice called. Though she couldn't see the one who said her name, she recognized his soft, low voice, full of emotions he would almost never admit to.

"Damon…" she whispered back.

She opened her eyes slowly and looked around. The church walls were gone and all the people had disappeared too. She was dressed in street clothes and sitting on Stefan's bed, in Stefan's room. Damon was seated on the edge of the bed, staring at her like he was seeing a ghost.

"Are you ok?" he asked, handing her a red cup with small white dots.

"Yes," she confirmed, taking the cup out of his hands. "Stefan! Did you find Stefan?" she asked, placing the cup on the night stand without taking as much as a sip from it. She stood up from the bed, forcing him to do the same.

Soon after, everybody stormed inside: Caroline, Bonnie, Jeremy, Alaric… and Elena felt like she couldn't breathe anymore.

"What happened?" Bonnie asked.

"She just woke up from what seemed like a nightmare," Damon answered.

"We were getting married," Elena thought, realizing she'd said that out loud only when everyone turned to face her. Her brown gaze found his blue one, then she looked down, trying to avoid the intensity she could feel every time he looked at her.

"I'm not _that_ bad…" he remarked.

"I didn't say you were. You're the one that called it a nightmare," she returned.

"You mean that marrying me was actually a dream you enjoyed?" he asked, sounding surprised.

Alaric cleared his throat and Damon and Elena's connection broke. She took a step back and unconsciously Damon did the same.

"So, what happened? Why isn't anyone telling me what happened?" Elena asked, looking around, her gaze resting on each face in turn.

"Elena…" Damon started and she felt her heart ache; the tone of his voice told her that it was bad news. "Stefan left town with Klaus," he finished and let out a deep breath he didn't know he had been holding.

"What?" she exclaimed, looking at Bonnie, then at Jeremy, Alaric, Caroline and finally at Damon again.

This couldn't be happening; Stefan was the good guy, the one you count on to stick around. She immediately remembered Katherine's words, 'he gave himself over to Klaus; he sacrificed _every_thing to save his brother, _including_ you'.

"We…we have to find him," she urged.

"Yes, we do, but we need a plan first," Damon said.

"Plan? We don't have time for a plan…" she protested.

"No? So we'll just find Klaus and tell him:_ hey, remember us? The ones that tried to kill you? Yeah, I'm feeling all better now, thanks for the cure. Oh, by the way, I would like my brother back now! _I'm sure he will just give Stefan back while thanking us for trying to kill him," Damon said with a fake smile. "Maybe you changed your mind about…" he started, looking at Bonnie.

"I can't…" Bonnie said, looking a bit embarrassed. "The witches won't allow me to channel their power again. They told me I failed; I was supposed to kill Klaus and I didn't…and after I used my power to bring Jeremy back from the dead, I don't think…"

"What? What are you talking about?" Elena interrupted Bonnie.

"The sheriff tried to kill Damon, but shot Jeremy instead. We took him to the old house and Bonnie brought him back to life," Alaric explained for the second time.

"You…you died?" she asked, looking at Jeremy, "and you…you didn't think I should…why didn't you guys tell me?"

"Elena, look, I'm fine, ok? It's no big deal," Jeremy said, trying to calm his sister.

"No big deal? Jeremy, you _died_! And you…did you know about this?" she asked Damon.

"I…yes; but in my defense, I didn't remember until Alaric told me this morning," he answered.

Elena looked at the people around her. She couldn't believe they'd kept something this big from her!

"I need some space," she said, getting up and walking towards the door. Damon tried to follow her, but she stopped him. "I need some space, _alone_," she said, "I'll be fine." She took her jacket from the chair and the only sound in the room was the sound of the door closing behind her.

"I thought you wanted me to find Katherine," Stefan said.

Klaus smiled while he picked up his glass from the coffee table and took a seat on the expensive white leather couch.

"No, I'm pretty sure I told you: 'she won't get far; you'll help me see to that'," Klaus said, taking a generous sip from his glass.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Stefan asked.

"Well, you _will_ help, since she'll come for you."

"Why would she come for me?" Stefan asked, surprised.

"Because she'll want to save you from me…"

"I doubt that. If you knew she was on vervain, why didn't you do anything about it?"

"Nosy, aren't we? I just needed her to lure someone out for me, someone that could ruin my plan."

"And what's the plan anyway?"

"It's not time for you to know yet. You still have to prove your loyalty to me first."

"Am I interrupting?" the woman asked, opening the door.

"Harmony! No, my dear; please _do_ join us!" Klaus said offering her his hand.

"What happened to Greta?" she asked.

"Greta…she's not among us anymore," he answered and Harmony seemed to be pleased by his answer.

"Mom?" Matt asked, opening the door. She always found a way to surprise him by showing up when he was least expecting it.

"Matty, how are you? You look good," she said, getting inside and hugging him tightly. He had been too shocked to actually move, so he just stood there until she pulled back.

As soon as she moved aside, Matt got a look at the man standing in the doorway. He was tall and from what Matt could tell, really buff. He had short brown hair and piercing green eyes. His full lips formed an almost-smile when he looked towards his mom.

"Well, don't just stay there, come inside!" Kelly said, and the man picked up a travel-bag and hesitated for a second before stepping over the threshold. "Robert, this is my son Matt; Matt, this is Robert, my fiancé," Kelly introduced them.

"Fiancé?" Matt asked, pretty sure he had misunderstood her.

"Yes, isn't this great? I'm getting married," she said, proudly raising her left hand. The blue sapphire shone in the morning sun.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Matt, I heard many great things about you," the man said, offering Matt his hand.

Matt looked down; he immediately noticed the big unusual ring on his finger and retracted his hand, as if he'd been burned. He remembered what Caroline had told him about vampires having to be invited in and about the weird rings she, Stefan and Damon had for walking in the sun without getting burned. The ring on Robert's finger looked exactly like one of those, including the blue lapis lazuli stone, except that there was a big 'R' engraved on it.

"Matt, you're being impolite; I raised you better than that!" Kelly said, looking at her son.

"_Excuse_ me? You've been off chasing _bats_," he paused for a second and noticed Robert take a step back at the word. "I raised myself," he shouted and stormed out of the house.

Matt ran to his car. He took out his shotgun from his truck and placed it on the passanger seat. He climbed in and drove away, towards Caroline's house.

"Doesn't the sound of your ring tone annoy you?" Damon asked, giving Caroline a cold stare.

The young vampire picked up her phone from the chair next to her and looked at it for a few seconds before answering it.

"Matt…" she said, like she was expecting that to be a joke. "Are you ok?" she asked concerned. "I'm at the Boarding House…oh, your mom's home; well…" she stopped and listened for a minute. "I think you should come here," she suggested. "Matt, please! If you're right, then you're not safe…please!" she begged.

"What was that all about?" Damon asked as soon as she hung up and Caroline was surprised he hadn't just eavesdropped on her conversation. What she didn't know - what no one knew - was that Damon had trouble hearing lately.

"Matt's mom's back in town. That woman does _not_ like me," Caroline said, waving her hands in the air.

"Can we skip your relationship drama and get to the point?"

"She came with a guy; Matt said they're engaged…"

"Do you have a point in telling me this?" Damon asked, losing his patience.

"Matt thinks the guy's a vampire," she finally let out and bit her lip, waiting for Damon's reaction.

"And why would he think that?"

"I…well, I don't really know, he was yelling and the connection was bad…I told him to come here to discuss it," she said.

"Great, call in the whole Scooby- gang, why don't you?" Damon said sarcastically.

Elena got back to the Boarding House a few minutes ago. She was sitting in a chair in front of the window, but she couldn't tell if it was light or dark outside; she was staring at her phone, her index finger caressing the screen. That photo used to always bring a smile on her face – the same photo Stefan had on the screen of _his_ phone. She tried to work up a smile for the sake of the two happy people on the wallpaper, but she couldn't. She'd lost her parents, her aunt, her birth parents…and now Stefan…she was cursed to just lose everyone she'd ever cared about. Maybe she should've turned into a vampire and taken a walk in Katherine's shoes.

The more she got sucked into this 'fictional' world, the more she understood the selfish, manipulative vampire, whose physic appearance she shared to the smallest detail. Katherine had told her that Klaus had killed her whole family and all of her friends. That meant she had no one left; she had been all alone. Being a vampire had made it easier to just shut off the emotions, rather than live through them. Elena would've done the same thing now if she'd had a choice; but she didn't. She was human, thanks to her uncle – turned dad, who sacrificed his life so she could live hers.

She hadn't been touching the screen in longer than a minute and it went black; the two happy people on the screen vanished…just like in real life. The imageless screen seemed deserted…just like her heart. She needed Stefan; right there by her side to tell her everything was going to be ok. She let out a frustrated breath, annoyed at herself for being so dependent on others. She pressed her lips on the cold phone-screen, "I love you…" she whispered, biting her bottom lip to keep from crying.

The door bell rang and Damon was faster than Caroline opening the door.

"Your pet's here," he said, his eyes gazing at a very uncomfortable Tyler Lockwood moving from one foot to another on his doorstep. "We should install a dog-door for him…" Damon mumbled as Caroline joined him.

"I came here to apologize," Tyler said and Caroline gave him an encouraging smile. "I'm sorry for…"

"Don't worry, man, it's not like you're the first one who _almost_ killed me; you should start a club along with Alaric, Liz and few other hundred people!" Damon suggested, interrupting Tyler.

"Well…you're not exactly _innocent_… all those people tried to kill you for a reason…" Caroline said, looking at Damon.

Damon shrugged his shoulders indifferently and moved a few steps to his left, indicating with his head that Tyler should get in. The boy stepped over the threshold and Caroline didn't hesitate to put her arms around Tyler's neck, pulling him into a tight hug.

"Did you talk to your mom?" Tyler asked, as Caroline buried her face in the crook of his neck.

"Yes…we're good…" she mumbled.

"Caroline…"

Caroline opened her eyes and looked through the still open door to see Matt standing in the exact same place Tyler had been just seconds ago.

**N**: _This is it, hope you guys liked it. Please take a minute and review!_

_See you next Thursday :)_


	5. Chapter 5

**N**: _Picking up where we left off, enjoy!_

_As always, thank you Valerie (2serendipity) for beta-reading this! You are really amazing at it._

**Everyone deals in its own way**

"Matt, you're here," Caroline said like it wasn't obvious.

Matt didn't say anything; he was just staring at Caroline and Tyler. They weren't tangled anymore, but… he did notice the way Caroline kept holding onto him and the soft tone of voice Tyler used when talking to her. He had never heard Tyler talk like that.

"Care to come inside and explain why you think your mom's boyfriend is a vampire?" Damon asked inpatiently.

"He…he had a ring…" Matt started, and Damon rolled his eyes. "… A ring like yours," he said pointing to Damon's hand.

"That's _it_?" Damon asked incredulously.

"He didn't just come in the house; he stood there for like five minutes. He only came in when my mom asked him to," Matt continued.

"Okay, so come on in!" Damon motioned with his hand and Matt looked at Caroline who nodded lightly; her look begging him to do as told.

Matt hesitated a few seconds more before crossing the threshold and Damon closed the door behind him. The four of them walked into the living room. Alaric was standing by the liquor cabinet, pouring himself a generous portion of bourbon.

"Glad you made yourself at home, Ric," Damon drawled and Alaric raised his glass.

"I thought the day deserved a drink; anyone want one?" he asked and Damon gave him a cold stare.

No one answered so Alaric took his glass and let himself fall in one of the chairs that were standing all over the place.

"So, where were we? Oh yeah, _Mr. I-don't-want-to-know-anything-about-vampires-but-I'm-living-with-one_ was clarifying the exact reason he thinks his mommy's future husband isn't actually a living person," Damon said.

"I'm sure he is. I told my mom she was chasing bats and the guy looked like he had just seen a ghost," Matt said, looking around.

"Maybe he just doesn't like bats! I mean, they're not the cuddliest animals around," Damon said sarcastically.

"Damon…" Caroline complained.

"What do you want me to do, Blondie? Go there and stake the guy? Make him some vervain tea?" Damon asked, but Caroline knew better than to give him an answer. "We need to find out who or _what_ he is; he could be a _succubus_ for all I've seen lately. You need to go back home and act like nothing's wrong. We need the element of surprise and you freaking out _won't_ do the trick. Oh and…no more bats, blood or garlic allusions; first of all, they're lame. I've _never_ in my 160 something years ever _heard_ of a vampire morphing into a bat or any other animal for that matter. We can compel animals if we're powerful enough, but _never_ change into one. Vampires _do_ eat garlic and _yes,_ we _do_ have reflections. Second of all, he might decide he doesn't want to raise the kids after all…if you get my drift," Damon finished, and everyone was quiet, watching him.

"So, that's it; he has to go home…alone?" Tyler asked, concerned for his friend.

"No, _you_ will go with him. Supposedly, you should be able to sniff out a vampire, being natural enemies and all that crap, so _you_…will go with _him_ and see what you can pick out," Damon suggested and Tyler nodded. "Hey, Ric, do you mind detaching yourself from that glass and making yourself useful by showing your young apprentice here how to use some of your toys, so _maybe_ he won't get himself killed? I'll go see what I can find out about the guy," Damon finished and before anyone got the time to protest, he disappeared.

***season three – off the wagon***

Liz Forbes was in her office, seated at her small desk, behind a pile of files containing unsolved cases. Animal attacks, mysterious deaths and disappearances…she knew better than to think they would ever find the missing persons, the cause of death or the 'animal' responsible for them.

She caught her head between her hands, slowly massaging her temples. She was just trying to find a way to get the mayor off her back and stop the endless deaths in this cursed town.

"We need to have a little talk," she heard someone say and she raised her head to look at that person; as soon as she saw who it was, she reached towards her gun by the edge of the desk.

"You of all people should know better than to think you could kill me with a bullet, Liz. You would be dead before you can even touch that gun," Damon said, his voice calm and low, sending chills down the woman's spine.

"Wha…what do you want, Damon?" she asked, trying her best to sound unperturbed.

"Relax, I'm not here to kill you; I really just want to talk," he said, taking a step forward. "Why doesn't anyone want to believe me when I say that?" he asked, more to himself than to Liz. "It seems Kelly Donovan came home this morning with some extra luggage," he said. The sheriff remained quiet, sensing he wasn't done yet. "She came with a man she's planning to marry," Damon continued and Liz raised an eyebrow at him.

"I thought she never wanted to get married again after Bill…" she said, sounding surprised.

"Maybe she didn't have a choice," Damon commented.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, your new partner in crime seems to think his new daddy is a vampire," Damon said, and the sheriff shifted uncomfortably in her old chair.

"Why would…is it even…?" she mumbled.

"Yeah, well, we're not sure yet. I need you to do some digging; I know you're pretty good at that. His name is Robert Evans, apparently. Let me know what you find!" Damon said, and turned around to walk towards the door, but he stopped half way there, turning back to face the sheriff. "Oh, one more thing, Liz! If you _ever_ try to kill me again – that would be for the third time - it's only fair that I will fight back! I would even call it self-defense. The only reason you're not dead right now, is that, believe it or not, I care about your daughter and I considered you my friend once upon a time … Don't take that for granted!" he said and vanished before Liz got to reply anything.

***season three – off the wagon***

"Where have you been?" Caroline asked as soon as Damon stepped foot inside the house.

"I had a nice little chat with your mom," he answered, "Don't worry, she's still breathing," he added seeing the shocked expression on the blonde girl's face. "Did something happen over here?" he asked.

"See for yourself!" the young vampire said, pointing towards the kitchen.

Damon gave her one last glance before directing himself towards the kitchen. He stopped in the doorway and looked at Elena who was bent over a huge pot with a long white spoon in her hand.

"Hmm, what's cooking, doc?" he asked, referring to the cartoon character whose long ears and detached sense of humor had made him famous.

"Soup," she answered absently, still stirring.

"And you're planning on feeding the whole town perhaps?"

She didn't bother answering him. She walked over to the table and started chopping an onion. Damon thought the vegetable in question must've done some pretty bad stuff to deserve that kind of treatment. She wasn't cutting it; she was pulverizing it with a force that Damon didn't know a human her size was capable of.

"Do you prefer the carrots cut in rings or in cubes?" she asked, taking a small carrot from a big red boll.

He took a few steps forward and stopped behind her. He stretched out his hand and placed it softly over her right hand.

"I prefer them _not_ crushed," he said, trying to take the knife from her hand.

"No, I need to cut this," she protested.

"I'll do it," he said and she started shaking her head.

"No, no…I have to do it; I have to do _something_…I…" Her voice broke and a few tiny tears made their appearance on her cheeks.

Damon took the knife from her hand and pulled her arm, forcing her to face him.

"Elena, look at me; listen to me!" he ordered and Elena raised her chin to look up at him. "You can cry, you know; you don't have to be strong all the time!" he said gently.

"I…I can't…I can't do it anymore, Damon. People keep dying around me…"

"I'm here for you, you know that," he interrupted her, but he realized his argument wasn't solid enough. She didn't want _him_, she didn't need _him_; she wanted his _brother_. "Jeremy's here, your best friends are here…they all need you…" he continued, hoping that would get her attention.

She bit her bottom lip, watching him as if he was speaking another language. Her brown eyes were burning into his icy blue ones.

Damon placed his hand under her chin, his index finger pushing her face backwards an inch. He used his thumb to wipe away a tear on her cheek and she jumped back, as if his touch had burned her.

"I…I have to finish the soup," she said, and turned around, reaching out her hand to pick up the knife, but he got to it before she did.

"I need to do something too," he said with a smile. She smiled back and allowed him to cut the carrot into the smallest cubes ever to swim in a pot of soup.

***season three – off the wagon***

Caroline closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh. 'Stefan…what have you done?' she whispered weakly. She could totally understand their behavior, but it was still breaking her unbeating heart. They were _both_ her friends and they were _both_ hurting…. The worst part was that she had no idea how to fix any of it.

***season three – off the wagon***

"Why are we stopping here?" Adney asked.

"I have to pay a visit to an old friend," Katherine said, turning in her seat.

"You don't _do_ friends, Katerina, so what's this about?"

"Klaus made me take off my Lapis Lazuli bracelet and I didn't have time to get it back. I'm going to visit a witch and ask her to spell my old ring," she said raising her hand to show him her big ring with a blue stone set in the middle.

"Have I taught you nothing, Katerina? I told you to always have a witch with you," the man said.

"Well, I did…but she decided to act all Judas on me."

"I hope you're not planning to kill her after she does the spell."

"Of course not, I'm going to bake her a 'thank you' cake," Katherine said sarcastically.

"You know I don't approve of your lifestyle."

"Pff, my lifestyle! Are you hearing yourself right now? I do what I have to do to stay 'alive' so I can take my revenge on the man that took everything away from me. I ran for 500 years, waiting for the next doppelganger to be born so he would break that stupid curse and I'd be able to kill him. Once he's dead, I can burn under the sun for all I care," Katherine said vehemently.

"What about the guy you're trying to save?" he asked and she rolled her eyes.

"Him! He doesn't love me. He's head over heels for my doppelganger…"

"It's the same thing; _she's made_ like that and you know what the curse says about the doppelgangers?"

"Nah, she's nothing like me. She has the whole martyr act going on. Do you know she was willing to sacrifice herself to save her friends and family?" Katherine replied.

"Once upon a time, I'm sure you would've done the same thing if you had known the consequences," he said, sounding convinced.

"Hmm…"

"You love him, don't you?"

"Does it matter?" she returned.

"No…" the man answered in a sad voice.

"That's what I thought…" she said and got out of the car. "Wait here!" she ordered and in a split second she was standing in front of the dark brown door.

She didn't have to knock twice as the door cracked open.

"Katherine…" Lucy mumbled and tried to get the door closed again, but something in Katherine's voice stopped her.

"That's a bad decision…" Katherine whispered. "What? No hugs, no kisses?" she asked sarcastically, enjoying the stupefied expression on her former friend's face. "Fine, I'm not the affectionate type anyways," she said, amused. "So, here's how this is going to work: you're going to pretend you're my friend and do something for me; and I'm going to pretend your disloyalty didn't almost get me killed and so I will not kill you and everyone you have ever known," Katherine said, placing her right hand on her hips.

"What do you want?" the witch asked.

"I want you to spell this ring," Katherine replied, taking the ring off her finger. "Thanks to you I've been stuck in a tomb for months and I would really like to enjoy the sun now that I finally got out."

"Ok, I'll do it if you give me your word that no harm will come to my family by your hands," the girl said.

"I give you my word that I won't hurt your family," Katherine said like she was repeating a refrain.

"Fine, give it to me!"

"You think I'm stupid? You come outside and do it!" the vampire said impatiently.

Lucy looked at her for a few moments before finally stepping over the doorsill. She was almost sure Katherine would kill her, but she was ok with it as long as no one in her family would get hurt. After all, she had betrayed Katherine, so she had been expecting this.

"The sun's not up yet, I need it to fall over the ring in order to proceed with the spell," Lucy said.

"No time to wait for the sun," Katherine protested. Before Lucy realized what was happening, Katherine had them both on the roof. "Here you go, now you'll have sun in a few minutes," she said, placing the ring by the edge of the chimney.

Just like Katherine had predicted, the first rays of the sun were caressing the small object a few minutes later, making it shine. Katherine was staying just a few steps away, where the rays weren't getting yet.

"If this doesn't work, the deal's off, just so you know," Katherine warned her.

"I figured as much; don't worry, it will work, it's not the first time I'm doing this," Lucy said and moved to the chimney. She started mumbling something in Latin, but Katherine didn't care enough to translate.

"It's done," the witch said, returning the small object to Katherine.

The vampire took the ring and slid it on her finger. She gave Lucy one last stare and stepped into the sun. There was no burning sensation, no pain, nothing…the ring worked, just like the witch had said it would.

"Good, it works. Now if you tell anyone you saw me, I'll come back and kill all of you…one by one, got it?"

The witch nodded and Katherine wrapped an arm around her waist.

In the blink of an eye, Lucy was standing in front of her porch. She looked around; there was no one. The wind swept a few dead leaves in the alley in front of the house; the place looked deserted. She took a deep breath and went inside the house, trying to wrap her head around the fact that she was still alive.

***season three – off the wagon***

"Elena, are you home?" Jeremy asked while descending the stairs. He looked in the hall; there was no one. He looked in the living room…it was as empty as he'd left it an hour ago to go to bed.

He turned around and came face to face with Anna. The girl was smiling slightly at him and he couldn't help but smile back. He just stood there staring at her for a few minutes; he just couldn't believe she was there, right in front of him.

"Are you real?" he asked and the girl shook her head in denial. "Then I'm seeing ghosts…" Jeremy said, and Anna smiled.

He took a step forward and extended his hand to caress her face but his hand passed right through her and she vanished before Jeremy realized what was happening. He looked around a couple of times but there was no sign she had ever been there. He made his way towards the kitchen and opened the fridge. He took out the milk and closed the door again.

The milk-carton fell from his suddenly numb hands as he saw his aunt standing just a few steps away from him.

"Jenna…" he mumbled in disbelief. He blinked a few times and she vanished, just like Anna a few moments ago.

The boy was now standing there, unable to move, gazing at the white fluid spreading all over the kitchen floor. The liquid reached his bare feet, but he didn't care enough to move. First Anna, then Vicky and now Jenna…something was definitely wrong here...

**N**: _this is it, hope you guys enjoyed the Delena moment…and the chapter, please review and let me know!_

_See you next week! _


	6. Chapter 6

**N**_: So, 6__th__ chapter's here, I really hope you'll like it, enjoy!_

_Thank you Valerie (2serendipity) you're an amazing beta-reader!_

"Can I have your name?" the blonde girl asked in rusty English. She bit her lip nervously and looked down...away from his emerald green eyes.

"It doesn't matter; you won't live enough to find this information useful," Stefan said caressing the girl's neck with his index finger.

Usually he wouldn't go for girls that had something in common with _her_. This one had...she had the same brown puppy dog eyes...bright and sparkly. He hadn't noticed as he'd picked her up at the bar. He'd been drunk enough to _not_ care.

"If you're going to kill me, can I at least avoir ton nom_ (have your name)_," the girl said, pouting. She was speaking half English, half French, but Stefan didn't mind. He spoke the language and he could understand her perfectly.

"Stefan...Je m'appelle (_my name is)_ Stefan," he whispered in her ear and the girl shivered in his arms.

"Stefan..." she repeated, "...je l'adore _(I adore it)_," she said and turned around. She crossed her arms around his neck and looked at him with those big brown eyes. "You are beautiful..." she whispered, watching him in adoration, "...and I am really happy I have met you," she finished and Stefan wanted to scream in frustration about the fact that this girl was happy she'd met him and she'd die because of it...But he laughed instead.

He looked at her as if she was a stupid little kid. He hadn't compelled her to say that, he hadn't compelled her to like him... he shouldn't care anyway...but those eyes... for the first time since he'd left Mystic Falls he wanted to sleep with a girl before sucking her dry.

"Tu es triste _(are you sad)_, Stefan?" the blond girl asked, concerned.

"No," he answered sadly. "I just need to...I need...I need something you might be able to help me with," he said and crushed his lips on hers.

His hand tangled in her silky, wavy, blond hair and his tongue pushed in and out of her mouth. It tasted as good as it looked, like peaches...her lips were soft and warm, a familiar sensation. She moaned in his mouth and he growled in response.

He pressed her into the wall and she arched her back against it, pushing her hips forward to meet his. He grabbed her leg and placed it around his waist; by using his vampire speed, he had her on the table in the middle of the room in a heartbeat.

Her fingers started unbuttoning his shirt. As soon as she was done, she pushed it off his shoulders and pulled back an inch to look at him, letting her fingertips wander over his chest and down to his abs.

The way she was looking at him was what pushed Stefan over the edge. He picked her up, quickly making his way towards the staircase. He stepped over the other blonde girl's body like it wasn't there.

***season three – off the wagon***

"So, those are all the journals you could find?" Damon asked and Jeremy nodded.

The vampire picked up one of the journals and looked through it. He was sure that he had never read this one before; it had been missing from the pile of notebooks Stefan and him had been going through right after Elena and Stefan had brought them from her family's cottage.

"Are you ok, kid?" Damon asked and Jeremy moved closer.

"Yeah...it's just that..." for a second Jeremy found himself tempted to tell Damon everything about the ghosts that were haunting him at night. Damon had this weird ability to 'not judge' when it came to things like this; but at the same time he would definitely not refrain from sarcastic comments, and Jeremy didn't think he was ready for that yet, "I'm concerned about my sister; first there was Jenna, and now Stefan's gone..." he said, right when the door opened. They both turned towards it and saw Elena and Alaric come in. Each of them was holding a big box in their hands and Elena had trouble seeing over hers.

"That's everything Isobel had at Duke; all of her research," Alaric announced, placing the box beside the table.

Damon speeded over and plucked the box out of Elena's hand.

"Thank you," she mumbled and their eyes locked, making the whole world seem dispensable for a moment; but all too quickly they both took a step backwards and looked in different directions, scared of what they might find in each other's eyes.

"Haven't we already gone through all of these at Duke?" she asked. She knew there could be something they'd missed, but she just needed to say something and that was the first thing that came to mind.

"We looked for anything on Katherine and the werewolves to find what the deal was with the curse; we didn't search for the originals," Damon answered, and he was probably talking for the same reason as Elena...just to say something. The silence scared them both because it screamed the truth.

"There has to be something in here about them that we can use," Alaric said, emptying one of the boxes. "After all, Isobel _did_ find Klaus," he continued seeing that nobody was saying anything.

Jeremy got the other box and started to carefully take out each article from it.

"Did Isobel...get to you, before...?" Elena started, but stopped in the middle of her sentence. She wanted to say 'before she killed herself' but somehow the words didn't seem appropriate. Firstly, she had been dead already; secondly, she'd been compelled into it...that, she was sure of.

"Yes, she did..." Alaric answered, figuring out her question.

"Didn't she tell you something; something about the originals; anything?" she asked.

"No...not that I remember. It's all a bit blurry though. I remember her telling me she loved me and she regretted leaving me and becoming a vampire; she told me she had compelled me into letting her go and move on with my life..."

"She did..." Damon said interrupting Alaric and everyone stopped doing what they were doing and looked at him.

"Wh...What?" Alaric asked confused.

"The night she left Mystic Falls, I went back to school, to look for Elena. I heard the conversation between you two. You told her you were off vervain and she had to either kill you or compel you. I guess you know what her choice was... She told you she still loved you; she'd made a mistake, and it was her mistake, not yours. She compelled you to forget what she just told you and to let her go; move on with your life," Damon finished and everyone remained quiet for a moment.

"Why on earth didn't you tell me?" Alaric finally asked, irritated.

"Well...she had a point, Ric. She was a vampire; you were a vampire hunter...not exactly the perfect match. She did the right thing, making you let go; I wish _she_ would've done that to me, I wished she would've cared enough to make me let go," he said and Elena's eyes flew in his direction. Damon returned the favour, his blue eyes boring into hers. She could read the pain, the disappointment, the hurt in them and her eyes filled with tears.

She couldn't even begin to imagine what it would be like to love someone for over 140 years and not be able to be with that person, to talk to her or even to see her. What it would be like to fight everything and everyone just to be with someone; what it would be like to be willing to do _anything_ to get back to the person you love.

My God, he must've really loved her that he didn't let go all this time.

Now he loved _her_ and he wouldn't let go, because that's what Damon was all about; he was about going to extremes. The question was: did _she_ want him to let her go?

***season three – off the wagon***

Klaus took a seat at the kitchen table and turned on the TV. He raised an eyebrow at the beautiful brunette that was holding a huge yellow microphone in front of her face. He raised the volume wondering if her voice would be as beautiful as her angelic face.

"Alicia Etienne and Simone Lachine have been officially declared missing this morning after the local police was informed it has been three days since the young French tourists returned to their hotel rooms," the girl announced and the pictures of two beautiful blond girls appeared in the left corner of the screen.

"Not bad...not bad at all," Klaus said, turning towards Stefan who was now entering the room. "I didn't know you had a thing for blondes."

"I don't," Stefan answered absently.

"Why so glum, chum? Weren't they good enough; or maybe they weren't nutritious enough?" Klaus asked with a malicious smile on his face.

"They were both just fine," Stefan answered, pouring himself a big cup of coffee.

"You had a favourite though; the one you took to your room. I couldn't help but overhear. At least she died happy; I don't think many women can say they died while having an orgasm, right?"

Stefan ignored him. "If you really believe Katherine will come after me, you're delusional. She doesn't care about me, or about anyone but herself for that matter. You want her dead; she won't set foot anywhere near you," Stefan mumbled and Klaus smiled.

"That's where you're wrong. You're the reason I found out she wasn't 'dead' in the first place."

Stefan took a seat in a chair next to Klaus. He stretched out his hand and placed it on Klaus' shoulder while looking at him.

"I can assure you, if it comes down to me or her, she would kill me herself," Stefan said. He didn't wait for an answer as he vanished from the room, leaving Klaus alone once again.

***season three – off the wagon***

Elena was sitting on the couch with her legs tucked underneath her, reading another dusty journal. Damon was in a chair in front of her, his eyes locked on her tiny frame instead of on the book in his hands.

In her eyes, he could see the tears that were about to break free. She was trying to hold them in, but despite her best efforts one of them escaped and rolled slowly down her cheek, followed closely by another, then another.

She let go of the book she was holding and buried her face in her hands, her silent tears becoming shaky sobs.

In the blink of an eye Damon was beside her. He picked up the book and placed it on the small table in front of the couch, sitting next to her. He slowly put his arms around her, but she pushed him away violently.

"Let go!" she yelled, and Damon did as told. "I'm fine," she said, but she looked everything _but_ fine. Her body was shaking and her eyes were red and puffy from the many times like this one when she'd cried herself to sleep and Damon knew that better than anyone.

"Elena..." he whispered.

"It's your fault, you know? He did it for you," she shouted.

She looked at him. Her brown eyes found his blue ones; and when she saw the guilt in his eyes, she immediately regretted her words. She didn't blame Damon for any of it. She understood Stefan's choice. She would've done the same thing for her brother if it would ever have come to that.

"I'm sorry...I didn't mean that..." she mumbled.

"Why not? You're right..." he returned and she started to shake her head.

"No, Damon...it's not your fault. It has been his own choice; not mine, not yours..._his_. It's not like I could blame him...I knew he'd go to Klaus for the cure...I didn't stop him..." she said in a sad voice. "...and if it would happen all over again...I would still let him go. I don't blame you... I just miss him, that's all," she finished in a broken voice.

"I know you do...it kills me to see you like this," he said and her heart ached. "He should've just let me die..."

"What? No, no...I'd rather have him gone than have you dead," she said. As soon as the words came out of her mouth she practically jumped off the couch and made her way towards the door. "I should go home...it's late," she mumbled over her shoulder, but she didn't get far as something in his voice stopped her.

"Elena...wait!" he demanded, standing up, and Elena turned around. "I think we should...talk about that night," he said in a whisper. He didn't need to tell her which night he was referring to; she knew.

"Damon...I told you I forgive you and I do, but I still need some time," she whispered.

"I'm not talking about that, Elena!"

"Damon..." she said his name like a prayer.

"Did you...I need to know, Elena. Did you kiss me because I was dying?" he asked.

"Yes, I did..." she answered softly.

"I understand," he mumbled, starting to turn away.

"No," she shouted, shaking her head, "I don't think you do, Damon. I kissed you because you were dying...I was scared of losing you forever...I wanted to kiss you; I just went for it because it was then or never. I guess it was more for me than for you," she said and Damon raised an eyebrow at her.

"Elena," he murmured taking a step towards her, but she raised her hand, stopping him.

"Damon, please! I can't do this now. We need to find a way to get him back. I... I can't give up on him, Damon...I just can't," she said.

"I know, Elena. I don't want you to give up on him. We will find a way, I promise you."

"How? Please tell me how, because I have no idea and it's killing me!"

"I might be able to help you with that," a familiar voice came from the doorway.

Both Damon and Elena turned their heads towards the voice.

"Hello, Damon; missed me?"

"Katherine..." he mumbled and she smiled seductively, advancing in his direction.

"You look much better," she commented.

Elena's eyes were looking from Damon to Katherine, wishing she would understand the look exchanged between them.

"You, on the other hand," she said, turning to face Elena, "you look like you're about to desiccate. Who spit in _your_ coffee?" she asked and Elena's eyes flew towards Damon. "You two living together now that Stefan's MIA?" she continued, seeing that none of them were answering.

The door opened and they all looked at it. A man was standing right in front of it. He was tall, with blond hair, green eyes and full red lips. His smile made Elena shiver lightly.

"Adney, this is Damon Salvatore and under his protective wing...Elena, the human doppelganger," Katherine made the presentation and the man smiled, only this time his smile was kind and polite. "Come on in, everybody in this house had been dead at least once," she continued and the man hesitated just a few moments before stepping over the threshold. "Damon, Elena, this is Adney...Klaus's son," she finished and Elena's mouth fell open.

**N**: _This is it…let the games begin!_

_Please review to get your spoilers! _


	7. Chapter 7

**N**: _I would like to take a minute of your time and say something. Many of you asked for more Delena and I'd like to explain why it won't happen any time soon. First of all, Elena and Stefan were still together even if he left and she won't do that to him – I mean jump into his brother's arms; and second, Damon to this point wouldn't do that to his brother. Stefan sacrificed everything – even himself, to save him and he knows that Damon and Elena will grow together, but neither of them is ready yet. _

_I would very much like to concentrate on the Original family over the next few chapters. I have whole theory planned on how they became vampires, how Klaus ended up with a son did and what's the original doppelganger's role in all this._

_Don't worry there will still be Delena moments even if in some of them are not really Damon and Elena acting._

_So what do you think? I would very much like to know if you're still interested in this and the only way to do that is to review! _

_Thank you Valerie (2serendipity) for beta-reading this, you're great!_

Tyler got out of Matt's house and made his way towards the car. He was halfway there when a noise behind him caught his attention. He turned around, opening his mouth to ask who was there, but a cold hand covered his mouth and he didn't get the chance to do that.

"Shhh, it's ok, it's only me," he heard a soft voice whisper in his ear. He recognized the voice; of course he did; even in his darkest moments, her voice had guided him, keeping him sane.

She pulled her hand back and moved in front of him.

"Caroline...what are you doing here?" he asked.

"I wanted to make sure everything was ok. Were you able to tell if he's a vampire or not?"

"I'm...I'm sorry, I couldn't..." he mumbled, looking a bit embarrassed.

"Yeah, me neither. She keeps following him everywhere and her heart beat's so loud. I can't tell if he has one or not and anyway, I heard some vampires are able to fake one. Katherine used to do that to fool Stefan and Damon when she pretended to be Elena."

Caroline turned around, walking towards her own car.

"Where are you going?" Tyler asked and then thought that was a stupid question. It was after 10 pm, she was most likely going home.

"To my car, I'll stay here tonight," she answered.

"Stay here?" he asked, confusion written on his face.

"Well...I'm just going to stay in my car and make sure nothing happens to him," she said and Tyler's heart ached. She loved Matt so much, even when he was ready to walk away. Matt was his friend, but in this moment...he hated the guy. If it would've been him, nothing in the world would've kept him away from Caroline.

"All night? By yourself?" he asked.

"Yes," she said and smiled slightly – it was enough to make his heart race. "Don't worry, I'll be fine," she continued.

"Do you mind... if I stay with you?" the question came out barely audible, but she heard him loud and clear thanks to her supernatural hearing.

"Not at all," she answered and they both walked towards her car.

***season three – off the wagon***

"Son...?" Elena mumbled, confused, "Is that..." 'possible' she wanted to ask, but Katherine stopped her.

"Well, it happened before he turned obviously," she said looking at Damon as if asking him 'didn't you tell her vampires can't procreate?' "He's the only one able to kill Klaus," she continued and Damon's annoyed look changed into a confused one.

"Well, that's good. And the guy is going to kill his own father…just like that?" Damon asked and Katherine's eyes flew over to Adney.

"Yes, he will…just like that. Only, there's a problem," Katherine said and Damon rolled his eyes. "We know he can kill him, but we don't know how," she finished.

"These are my mother's journals," he said, opening the huge black suitcase he'd brought inside, "She was the woman you," he pointed towards Elena, "and Katerina are descended from as well," he said and Katherine shrugged her shoulders indifferently. "She wrote 51 of them, I only have 50; there's one missing and I need to find it since it's the one explaining the way I can kill Klaus."

"Do you have any idea who has it?" Damon asked and Adney nodded.

"Klaus's mother has the other journal."

***season three – off the wagon***

Jeremy was lying in bed, staring at the big, round clock on the opposite wall. Four minutes until midnight – his heart started beating faster; three minutes to midnight – he licked his bottom lip nervously; two minutes to midnight – he'd noticed the 'ghosts' or whatever they were always came right after midnight; one minute to midnight – they would come back to haunt him…actually they were not really haunting him, they didn't do or say anything, they just hovered there, like creepy decorations, watching him.

The clock on his bedside table made a soft ticking noise, letting him know it was exactly midnight. Jeremy pulled the covers off him and dragged himself to the edge of the bed. He looked around expecting to see Jenna or Anna – because he just saw them last night - but instead of them, he saw none other than Elijah standing in front of him; he was close…so close that Jeremy felt cornered by the vampire.

For a few seconds the boy just stayed there, staring at the ghost, unable to move or say a word. He was just about to say something when Elijah started walking towards the door. Jeremy stood up and watched him, curious to know if he would just pass through the door or open it. He should probably have been thinking about something like _why he was seeing dead vampires, _or _what if they were trying to warn him about something,_ but right now, studying their behaviour seemed more interesting.

The ghost of the vampire stopped in front of the door and looked over his shoulder like he was trying to tell Jeremy he wanted to be followed.

Curiosity got the better of him and Jeremy found himself walking towards the door. He opened the door and the ghost stepped over the doorsill and stopped on top of the stairs. Jeremy followed. His next stop was the front door.

'_Was he really going to follow Elijah's ghost outside?' _No, that was a bad idea, he was sure of it, but he opened the door anyway, just in time to come face to face with Bonnie.

"Hey there…" Bonnie mumbled, "I wanted to surprise you, but… I guess I got caught," she said with a smile.

Jeremy looked at her and faked a soft smile in return. Almost immediately his eyes flew over to Elijah, who was now standing on the terrace looking at him, slightly shaking his head. He stepped aside letting his girlfriend pass over the threshold. He took one last look at the foggy image of the vampire and closed the door behind her.

"I think Elijah's dead," he said and Bonnie turned around to face him.

"What…why would you think that?" she asked, slightly surprised.

"Because I'm pretty sure I can see dead vampires," Jeremy answered and the witch looked around uncomfortably.

"You mean like…ghosts?"

"Yes, I've seen Vicky, Anna and Jenna, and tonight, I saw Elijah. It's all kind of creepy; they don't actually do anything or say anything; most of the time, they're just there, staring at me."

"I guess it started after that night?" she asked, and they both knew she was referring to the night he got shot by the sheriff and was brought back to life by Bonnie.

"Yes, and it happens only at night," he answered.

"Let's go to my house, I'll try to find something in the other grimoires or in my grams research book," she said and they both got out of the house. Jeremy looked around, but Elijah was nowhere in sight.

***season three – off the wagon***

"Well, it looks like Klaus killed his mother, so… tough luck on this one," Damon said and Adney smiled.

"He didn't kill her. An original can't be killed; they can be staked using the wood of a specific tree…"

"The tree got burned, so now you have to use a dagger and the ash of the tree. We know the story," Damon interrupted him.

"I see you're familiar with the story of the eight daggers," he said and Elena took a step closer.

"Eight? There are eight of them?" she asked.

"Well, yes. Adelaide, the most powerful witch at the time spelled eight daggers, one for each member of the original family; except for Klaus, of course. They were supposed to be used by a brave enough human to put the original family into eternal sleep, far away from the world, but that didn't really happen. She died performing the spell and the humans under her protection were killed one by one by the originals. They tried running away with the daggers; that's when the daggers got separated and hidden, but it seems that Klaus has found them all and used them to keep his family away from his plans."

"You have to help him find the place where Klaus is holding his family," Katherine said.

"That's the big plan?" Damon asked.

"Yes, Damon. We need to wake up his long deceased mother to tell us what she did with the missing journal. Do you have a better idea?"

Damon shook his head slightly.

"That's what I thought. Now I need to get going, since some of us actually want to save Stefan," she said giving Elena a cold stare.

"You're going after Stefan?" Elena asked incredulously.

"Yes, I have a plan…" she whispered, turning towards the door.

"Wait, I'm coming with you," Elena yelled after her.

Katherine turned around, her gaze immediately finding Damon's.

"I can't take her with me," she said and Damon nodded.

"What, are you on _her_ side now?" Elena asked looking at Damon.

"No, I'm on your side," he told her, "I intend to make sure you stay safe and sound."

"I want to go with her…I need to go with her. Stefan needs me," she cried.

"I can't let you go," he fired back.

"Go to hell!" Elena shouted, making her way towards the staircase.

"She loves me, she's just a bit…overwhelmed," Damon said, looking at Adney. "If you'll excuse me…" he said pointing in the direction Elena had gone a few seconds before.

"Oh, don't let me keep you!" Adney mumbled, smiling.

"Take care of my little brother!" he said, looking at Katherine intently. She nodded and disappeared out the door in a heartbeat.

***season three – off the wagon***

Tyler opened his eyes slowly. It was still dark, but a softer kind of dark that announced the morning was nearby. He felt pressure on his right shoulder and turned his head to see Caroline asleep on his shoulder, her golden hair tumbling over his chest. Her left hand rested in his lap.

He couldn't resist: he covered her hand with his. She was cold to touch, but it made him feel warm all the way to his heart. She let out a soft moan and tangled her fingers with his, squeezing his hand slightly.

Her eyes fluttered open and she looked up at him. She smiled sleepily and he returned the favour.

"Hey," she murmured.

"Morning," he answered.

For a few minutes they just stood there, staring at each other, and Tyler thought he wanted to hold this girl in his arms forever.

Suddenly Caroline jumped back in her seat, rolling the window down. She took a lipstick from her bag and applied it, looking in the rear-view mirror. She tried to rearrange her hair, but there was not much she could do without a hair brush.

Tyler was just watching her, confused. He just couldn't understand why she jumped like that all of a sudden. Was it something he did?

Seeing Matt coming out of the house a few seconds later answered his question. He advanced towards the car, stopping in front of it for a moment, then walked over to Caroline's side.

"Caroline," he said, bending over to peer in through the open window, "Tyler…" he continued, sounding surprised.

***season three – off the wagon***

"I found something," Bonnie announced and Jeremy let go of the book he was holding and made his way over to her. "It says here that since you really died, you belong to death and now she's following you around to get your soul," she said, watching him with concern.

"But that doesn't explain why I'm seeing dead people," Jeremy protested.

"You're not seeing dead people; you're seeing those that died without a soul."

"Vampires…" he continued, and the witch nodded.

"Apparently death put an imprint on you…your soul belongs to the dead at night, that's why you see them. You'll see all the vampires you…loved and who loved you, the ones you had a connection with, because they're around you to protect you and make sure death lets go of your soul when morning comes."

"You mean it could happen that death won't let go and I'll be dead in the morning?"

"Not _dead_ dead…just soulless…" she whispered.

"I'll be a vampire?" he asked quickly.

"I don't know, Jeremy; I'll read more, try to find an answer…I'm so sorry," she said sadly.

"Bonnie, you saved my life. This is not your fault," he said softly. He reached out his hand to brush away a strand of hair from her face. A big tear left her right eye, sliding against her cheek and he slowly wiped it away using his thumb. "Hey…I'm ok; it's going to be ok," he said.

"They told me there would be consequences; I didn't want to listen," she mumbled.

"If you would've listened to them, I would be dead now."

***season three – off the wagon***

"I'm just trying to look after you," Damon whispered from the doorway and Elena raised her head to look at him.

"I know, I just wish you'd stop…I wish you would save yourself…" she whispered back.

Damon stepped over the doorsill and closed the door behind him. He walked towards the bed, his eyes never leaving hers.

"I…" he started, taking a seat beside her on the edge of the bed. "…I tried, but saving myself means losing you and I can't lose you," he finally said, after a few moments of silence.

"Damon…" she was interrupted by the buzz of her phone.

She pulled the device out of her jeans pocket and answered it.

"Caroline, what's wrong?" she asked.

"_Elena, is Damon there?"_

"He's right beside me," she answered.

"_Can you put him on, please? I need to talk to him,"_ she said and Elena handed Damon the phone.

"What?" he asked in a soft voice and Elena shrugged.

"She wants to talk to you," she mouthed and Damon took the phone from her hand.

"Not a good time, Blondie. Today looks bad; actually the whole century looks bad," he said and Elena gave him a cold stare.

"_Yeah, yeah, I know it's never a good time. I have new information and I felt that you needed to know, so bite me!"_

Damon thought that sounded appealing for a second there. _'What's wrong with you?' _he asked himself.

"Ok, what is it then?"

"_Matt snooped through this guy's belongings and found a calendar that marked all the full moon dates," _Caroline said, clearly disturbed by that fact.

"So now he's a werewolf?" Damon asked and Elena raised an eyebrow at him.

"_I don't know, but I guess we'll find out since tomorrow's a full moon," _she said weakly.

"Well we can't have another one of those dogs running around, so make yourself useful and find out if we have a new wolf in town, would you?"

"_I don't know how…"_

"Find a way!"

"_Why don't you find a way?"_

"Because I have some new guests to entertain: Klaus's long lost son is sitting in my living room right now, so if you will excuse…"

"_What? Klaus had a son? What is he doing in Mystic Falls? Is he after Elena? How did he get here?" _Caroline started asking questions before Damon had the chance to finish his sentence.

"Katherine brought him…"

"_Whoa there! Katherine came back?"_

"If only you'd let me finish a damn sentence!" Damon shouted and Caroline murmured a weak _'ok'_. "He came here because he needs our help. He's the one that can kill Klaus, but he needs to find his mommy's journal, because that's where it says how he can do it. We help him find the thing and he kills Klaus," he explained.

"_Just like that?" _Caroline asked and Damon let out a frustrated breath.

"I didn't get to the little asterisks at the bottom of the page, and you keeping me on the phone for a chit-chat doesn't help," he said. Caroline told him she'd try to find out if the new guy in town was a werewolf or a vampire and she'd come by the house later.

"What was that about?" Elena asked, taking back her phone from Damon.

"Nothing to worry your pretty little head about," he answered, getting up from the bed.

"Damon…" she shouted his name as a warning.

"Fine…" he said, falling back on the bed and starting to explain his conversation with Caroline.

***season three – off the wagon***

Caroline put her phone back in her purse and turned towards Matt.

"He wants me to find out if he's a vampire or a werewolf," she said and Tyler started shaking his head.

"There's no way I'm letting you anywhere near that guy," Tyler said and Matt gave him a long stare.

"I'll find out for you; just give me some of that vervain stuff!" Matt suggested.

"No, Matt, it's too dangerous," Caroline protested.

"What are you kids up to?" the voice was strong, overriding their own voices.

Matt was the first to turn around, just in time to see his future 'step dad' standing just a few steps away from him.

**N**: _This is it, please do take a minute and review it would mean a lot to me! _


	8. Chapter 8

**N**: _This chapter will contain flash-backs that would be written – __(__like this)__ so it would distinguish from the rest of the story. All flashbacks will be in Adney's mom POV as Elena's reading her journals._

_Thank you Valerie (2serendipity) for beta-reading this, you're great!_

_Picking up where we left off; enjoy!_

**Wrong answer**

"They're here to pick me up for school," Matt answered.

"Well then, don't let me keep you. I'm sure you kids wouldn't want to be late…especially on a Saturday evening," he said, turning around and making his way towards the house.

"It's Saturday?" Matt asked, surprised.

"Yesterday was Friday so I guess it makes sense," Caroline said and Matt looked at her like he wanted to apologize. "Get in!" she told him.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"Not to school…" she answered impatiently, and Tyler couldn't help but smile.

Matt got in the back seat, slamming the door with unnecessary force.

"We can go to my place, my mom's out of town; something about mayor business," Tyler said.

"Your place it is," Caroline confirmed.

***season three – off the wagon***

Elena took a deep breath and knocked on the slightly open door.

"Come in!" she heard Adney answer and she stepped over the doorsill.

"Hey," she mumbled weakly.

"Hello, how may I help you, Elena?" he asked.

"I would like to read your mother's journals. With your permission of course," she said with a smile.

"Oh, of course," he opened the luggage and took out one black note-book. He handed her the book and closed the suitcase again.

"My mom wouldn't have been much of writer! I had to figure out what she wanted to say and translate it into English. If you have any problems reading them, let me know; it would be my pleasure to help you figure it out."

"Thank you!" she said.

She took the journal and went back to Stefan's room. She was sure that if she would lie on the bed, she'd fall asleep, so she decided to sit at the desk.

Flipping to the first page, she read in red ink: _Elisaveta Petrova _and for some reason the name give her chills.

_I had to repeatedly rub my sweaty palms against my dress. My nerves were getting the best of me and I was positive I could hear my knees shaking from the emotions. Well, I guess I had the right; after all, it was not every day a woman gets married, right?_

_I took one last deep breath and grabbed my daddy's hand. He squeezed mine slightly and smiled at me, letting me know that everything would be ok._

_Niklaus was everything a girl could want: good family, smart, polite and most of all, kind. I had never met someone who cared more about others than Klaus – he didn't like people to call him Niklaus; he thought it sounded too 'fancy'._

_He even refused to fight in a battle. He told his father he couldn't hurt another human being over a piece of land. He said nothing's worth losing your humanity over as he didn't know he wasn't human or ever would be…._

_As I got closer, his green eyes fixed on my own and he took my breath away. There was so much love and tender care in them and it was all for me. I couldn't believe how lucky I was to have such a man by my side._

_Our wedding night was perfect. I was scared, but he whispered soft, sweet nothings in my ear and removed all my fears. He was gentle, giving me time to get used to his touch. He had touched me before, just not like that._

_I was watching us in the mirror. We were ready to go to the ball. He doesn't really like to dance, but he does it for me anyway. He's a good dancer so I told him it would be a shame for him not to use his talents._

"_My brother's coming home next week," he told me._

"_Alexander?" I asked._

"_No, my big brother…Elijah," he said. I've heard many stories about Elijah. He was the black sheep of the family and his father seemed to be disappointed with him. They said he was enjoying being on the battlefield and killing people more than he should. But then again, who was I to judge, right? I know people aren't always what they seem._

"_And how are you feeling about that?" I asked him and he smiled weakly._

"_I love my brother, Elisaveta, but he can be…difficult."_

"_I'm sure he's not that bad," I mumbled, and this time he pulled back and watched me with his 'serious face'._

"_He's…he doesn't play by the rules. He does whatever he wants and doesn't care about the consequences."_

Elena let out a deep breath at the familiar words. Somehow she felt like she knew Klaus and Elijah… and even Elisaveta.

Damon pushed the door open and stepped inside. He saw Elena sitting by the desk, bent over what looked like an old notebook – probably one of the journals – he thought. She also looked sad…maybe something she'd read, but he knew better. It was Stefan; she was like that because she missed his brother and there was nothing he could do to make it go away.

For a minute there he preferred the time where her life was in danger and all he needed to do was save her. At least then he knew what to do and she had Stefan to pick up the pieces if he would've screwed up. But now…Stefan wasn't here; it was just him and he didn't know what to do, what to say. He couldn't screw up again, because Stefan wouldn't be there to make it all better.

He took a few steps forward and stopped next to her. He wished there was something he could tell her, something that would make her…smile. He missed her smile.

She probably sensed his presence because she slowly turned around. She let her head fall backwards to be able to look at him and he saw the tears in her eyes, ready to break free. One of them finally did…it left her left eye and slowly slid down her cheek.

Without even thinking about what he was doing, he reached out and cupped her face, using his thumb to brush away the salty tear. Elena didn't say anything; she just bit her bottom lip in a failing attempt to keep the other tears from falling, but soon more tears were escaping and her cheeks started to sparkle in the pale light.

His hand was still touching her right cheek, and her tears were falling in his palm.

He felt slightly awkward, standing there like that. Did she even want him to stay there? Just when he started to pull his arm back, her left hand covered his right one, keeping it firmly in place. A moment later, she pulled his hand towards her mouth and pressed her soft lips in the palm of his hand before squeezing it slightly and letting go.

Her tender and sweet gesture took him by surprise. He didn't know what to do so he just kissed the top of her head, whispered 'good night' and left.

A few hours later he was still awake, lying on his back, staring at the ceiling. Her kiss was still burning in the palm of his hand.

***season three – off the wagon***

"I don't know, Klaus. If I don't know what he plans to do, I can't stop it and I can't protect you," Harmony shouted and Klaus growled at her.

"You don't understand I don't want you to protect me; I want you to kill him," he said and the witch raised an eyebrow at him.

"I don't have the power to do that and you know it, Klaus. I need to know more about him…"

"He's a werewolf that can turn at will and lives forever, what's to know?" Klaus interrupted.

She shrugged, "I'm sorry, but that doesn't really help."

***season three – off the wagon***

"Do you think he heard us?" Tyler asked and Caroline turned to face him.

"I don't know; if he's a vampire, he most certainly did," she answered.

"You guys make yourselves at home! I need to take a shower and change. I won't be long," He said and headed towards the stairs, leaving Matt and Caroline alone.

"Are you ok?" Caroline asked; her voice concerned. Matt had made it pretty clear that he didn't want to be part of 'her' world and now he had been forced right back into the middle of it.

"Yeah…I guess. It's just that…the thought of that creature with my mom…" he stopped and Caroline looked ashamed, gazing at something invisible on the floor. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to offend you. It's different with you…"

"How am I different? I'm a 'creature' too, as you so nicely put it."

"No…you're…you're still Caroline," he said weakly.

"Yes, I am, but you still don't want anything to do with me…" she whispered and a heavy silence settled in the room.

"I'm sorry," Matt mumbled.

"What for?" Caroline asked.

"For the 'going to school', thing," he answered.

"It's alright. We just need to figure out a way to find out if he's a vampire or a werewolf before tomorrow."

"I told you I'd do it; I'll give him that vervain stuff," Matt said determined.

"No, that's not an option. I won't let you risk it. If something would happen to you…" her voice broke and Matt closed the distance between them. He hesitated for about two seconds before slowly wrapping his arms around her. "I know you don't want to be part of it, but don't ask me to do that…I still care about you and I would do anything in my power to make sure you're ok," she murmured.

"I know…" was all he said.

Tyler raked his hand through his hair and let out a deep breath before descending the rest of the stairs.

***season three – off the wagon***

_I heard a noise in the living room and turned around; there was nothing there. 'Elisaveta, you're paranoid!' I told myself, but I still had that annoying feeling that someone was watching me. Maybe I just needed something to eat. I turned around to make my way towards the kitchen when I bumped right into him._

"_Wow there!" he said._

"_Oh, I'm sorry," I whispered._

"_It ok; you must be Elisaveta, right?" he asked and I nodded slightly. "I'm Elijah, Klaus's brother," he said, picking up my hand and raising it, and before I had time to realize what he was doing, I felt his lips on the back of my hand. _

"_I know…" I mumbled, "I mean, nice to meet you, Elijah."_

"_Pleasure's all mine, Milady. I've heard so much about you…"_

"_All good, I hope," I replied and he smirked at me._

_He was a beautiful man, with wavy, brown hair, playful, black eyes and that cocky smile turning up the corner of his lips… 'what are you doing?' I asked myself. 'Stop staring at him!' but I couldn't…his eyes were keeping me captive. _

"_How nice of you to join us, brother," a voice said and I broke the connection and looked straight ahead. Klaus was standing just a few steps away, his eyes stuck on his brother. They weren't warm and kind anymore; they were cold and they held no emotions in them._

"_Elisaveta, you should go to the kitchen. Matilda was asking for you!" he said and I didn't have the courage to say anything; I just dragged myself off to the kitchen. _

"_What can I do?" I asked Matilda from the doorway._

"_Do, Milady?" she asked, surprised._

"_Well, you asked for me…"_

"_No, ma'am, I didn't," the girl answered, looking faintly embarrassed._

"_Why are you home, Elijah? I thought you didn't like it here."_

"_I missed my little brother! I got all sentimental, so I thought I'd just drop by."_

"_You don't just 'drop by'. You come home whenever you want something, so cut to the chase and tell me what it is that you want?"_

"_Why do you care what I want? Are you afraid it might have something to do with your pretty little wife?"_

"_Stay away from Elisaveta!"_

"_I'll take that as an invitation…" Elijah smirked and walked out of the room, leaving Klaus fuming and frustrated behind._

Elena closed the journal and took a few minutes to reflect on what she'd read. Elisaveta, the first doppelganger had been Klaus's wife. She thought it made sense that the witches would sacrifice her to curse Klaus. She couldn't help but wonder if Elijah had fallen for his brother's wife, just like he had fallen for Katherine and had Elisaveta fallen for Elijah as well?

**N**_: __So, this is it for now; review and get you spoilers for the next 'episode'! _


	9. Chapter 9

**N**: _There you go: the 9__th__ chapter. I'm sorry there's not much Delena in it, I'll make it up in the next one, I promise. Hope you'll enjoy!_

_Thank you Valerie (2serendipity) for beta-reading this, you're amazing!_

**You feel guilty**

Tyler was the first to wake up. He opened his eyes and looked at Matt, who was still sleeping on the couch. He got out of the bed and walked over to the guests' room to see if Caroline had woken up yet. When he knocked softly, the door swung open. The moment he stepped inside, he realized Caroline wasn't there.

"Matt, wake up! I think Caroline went after your mom's boyfriend alone," he shouted and Matt pushed himself up to a sitting position with a confused look.

"What? Why would she do that?"

"To save your sorry ass," Tyler answered curtly. "Come on, move, we have to go after her!"

***season three – off the wagon***

"You just need to get him out of the house and Alaric and I will take it from there," Damon said, and Caroline nodded.

She drove to Matts' house and got out of the car. She opened the hood of her car, bent over and used the small knife in her hand to cut what looked like a pretty important wire. Then she closed the hood again, and waited a few moments before running towards the house and knocking on the door. As predicted, it was Robert who opened the door.

"Hi, I'm sorry to bother you so early in the morning… Is Matt home, please? My car broke down and I don't know what's wrong with it…I need to get to…"

"Matt is not home; he hasn't been home all night. I think he's at his friend Tyler's house," Robert interrupted her tersely.

"Oh…do you know when he'll be back? I really need to get somewhere…" she said in a sad voice.

"Well, I could take a look, I suppose. I mean, I'm no mechanic. But I can try."

"That would be great," she said, smiling like she'd just won the lottery.

They walked back to Caroline's car and she tried to start the car – which of course didn't work. Robert opened the hood to look underneath when a small arrow found its way into his neck. He growled and somehow managed to pull it out, just in time for another one to take its place. He reached for the second one, but didn't get to it as he fell on the ground.

"We'll take him to the basement and try to find out what his deal is once he wakes up," Damon said while Alaric was made his way over. "Caroline, you need to go find the witch and join us at the Boarding House."

"Well, I'll go for Bonnie as soon as I get my car working again," she protested.

Damon bent over and swiftly switched some cables. He straightened and opened the car door for Caroline, motioning her to get back inside.

"All done! Just take care and don't go over 120km/h because the pressure could push it over and stop the engine!"

"Gee, thanks for looking after me," she said sarcastically.

"You're already dead, Blondie. What's the worst that could happen?"

"What about Bonnie? What if my car stops and another car hits me…another car, with people inside…"

"Well, like I said, don't go over 120km/h," he repeated dryly, grabbing Robert's body to carry it to Alaric's truck.

***season three – off the wagon***

Elena flipped to the fifth page of the fifth journal and took a deep breath before starting to read.

_I was walking in the garden; everything was fresh and beautiful. White, pink and red roses were blooming on each side of the narrow alley. Only the soft song of a little bird disturbed the silence of the quiet, early morning._

"_Are you ok?" I heard him ask. His voice was deep and strong as always._

_I turned around and saw him standing just a few steps away; his dark eyes gazing at me with sincere concern._

"_I'm perfectly fine," I answered._

"_I heard you and my brother fighting last night…" he said, taking a step closer to me. "Did he hurt you?"_

"_Hurt…me…No, he didn't hurt me. Why aren't you with the others, hunting?" _

"_It's not my thing. Killing poor, defenceless animals…I just don't think it's fair."_

"_And killing humans is?"_

"_Well, yes. I mean, they are not defenceless. We fight, and the best man wins. I take advantage of my opponent's weaknesses, he takes advantage of mine. That's just how it works."_

"_It makes sense, I suppose," I mumbled._

"_Yes, it does."_

"Blah, blah, blah" Elena mumbled, flipping through the pages. Suddenly, she heard noises and ran down the stairs just in time to watch Damon and Alaric carry Matt's mom's fiancé towards the 'dungeon'.

"So, did you find out if he's a vampire or a werewolf?" she asked softly.

"Not really… We just shot him with both a vervain dart and a wolfsbane dart, so we don't know which one worked. But it appears that one of them did, so… The bad news is that was my last wolfsbane," Alaric answered.

"Well, we'll see if he reacts to the vervain, if not, we know he's a werewolf; we'll just get Tyler to give us some more wolfsbane to keep him weak, since it's a full moon tonight. We need to have him under control," Damon continued.

"I need to talk to you," Elena said and Damon nodded.

***season three – off the wagon***

Caroline knocked for the third time before a shirtless, only half-awake Jeremy opened the door and looked at her through barely open eyes.

"I…oh…I…"

"Come on in; Bonnie's in the kitchen!" he said and Caroline stepped inside, looking around uncomfortably.

"I'm going to…take a shower. You know the way, right?" he asked and Caroline mumbled a soft 'yes' before making her way to the kitchen.

"Ok, so I thought I was totally fine with you dating Elena's baby brother, but I have to say this is still a bit weird," she said, joining her friend.

"Hey, you were the one that encouraged me to go for it, remember?" Bonnie protested.

"Yes, I did and I'm sticking with that decision, just…now there's a very disturbing image in my head," she said and the witch smiled, handing her a cup of coffee.

"So, everything ok?"

"They nabbed Kelly's fiancé, finally."

"Oh, goody; now we can know for sure what he is."

***season three – off the wagon***

"So, you said you wanted to talk to me," Damon said, stepping into the living room.

Elena was standing motionless in front of the window, looking outside. It was a sunny day; she used to love those days. She loved the sun, feeling the heat of it on her skin…but now everything seemed to have lost its meaning. A million feelings were mixed in her mind; she was sad, overwhelmed, scared, lost and feeling guilty. Guilty for feeling reassured when hearing Damon's voice , guilty for the relief that accompanied the news that he was going to live, guilty for the way she hurt when he was hurting…and most of all, guilty because of her desperate need to be around with him.

"How are we going to find Klaus's family?" she finally asked.

"I don't know… maybe there's a locator spell or something…" he said weakly.

"Bonnie's not strong enough; she can't do it," Elena protested.

"I know that. I know another witch, but…"

"But what, Damon?"

"I don't know if she'll help me."

"We need to try. Where does she live? We need to go see her."

"In London…"

"Oh…" she gasped, "Well, we'll go to London then," she said and Damon raised an eyebrow at her.

"Are you serious?"

"It might be the only chance we have."

"I don't think she'll help and I don't know if we can afford to lose the time."

"Then lets not lose time. I'll go pack and we'll go right away," she said, making her way towards the door, "pick me up at my house in 20 minutes!" she said as she ran out of the house.

Damon walked to the liquor cabinet and poured himself a generous portion of his favourite bourbon. He let out a frustrated breath and drank the burning liquid in one gulp.

"Dammit!" he cursed under his breath.

"Something wrong?" Alaric asked.

"Everything's wrong… First she tells me that she likes me and that she cares about me, then she protects me… Finally there's all those hugs and cuddles and the damned kiss… And now she wants to go on a fucking road trip with me to London to chase unicorns…" Damon shouted. He knew he wasn't making any sense, but Alaric got the idea.

"You're scared to get too close to her…" he said carefully.

"I'm scared shitless," Damon admitted.

"You can't feel guilty for what you feel, Damon. They're feelings, you can't help them."

"Then why do I feel guilty? Why do I feel like I'm losing it when I'm around her… like I'm betraying my brother every time I look at her and she looks back at me? I didn't ask for this; I didn't ask for him to save me, but he did… and now I owe him my life…"

Alaric's mind caught up with what Damon had said, "Wait…you're going to London? What for?"

"I know a witch… well, some kind of witch, who lives there… Elena wants us to go there and convince her to help us locate the 'sleeping beauties' waiting to be woken up."

"The Original family, you mean?"

"Yeah…but even though I don't think she'll help, Elena thinks it's worth a try."

"And she's right. We don't have that many options and they can be anywhere around the globe…"

"I know that. Anyway, I should go; she'll be waiting for me," Damon said and disappeared before Alaric got the chance to say anything.

He came back with a small suitcase 5 minutes later, followed by Adney.

"So…" Damon started, "Do you know that I actually forgot to ask you whether you're a vampire or a werewolf?" Adney smiled.

"I'm surprised it took you so long to ask me that," he said and Damon chastised himself for not thinking to ask that sooner, but his mind had been all over the place lately. "I'm both and I'm neither," Adney continued and both men looked at him in equal confusion. "Let's see if I can explain it. I am a werewolf, the gene is there, but I turn at will so I haven't been one in over 200 years. As for the vampire part…I don't have a soul, I don't have a beating heart, so I don't age, but I don't need blood to survive."

"So you're a hybrid as well as Klaus?"

"Not really; I don't have his strength, I'm not an original. I'm not even a full vampire, I don't really know what I am, but it doesn't matter. I'm here to help you and I will as soon as I'll know what I have to do."

"Well, that's my cue to leave," Damon said. "Take care of things over here, would you?" he asked Alaric.

"Don't worry; everything will be fine!"

"Call me if…"

"Go, I got it!"

***season three – off the wagon***

"Come on, Bonnie, what are you doing in there?" Caroline asked impatiently.

"I'll be out in a minute," the witch answered from the bathroom.

"Can you drop me off on your way to the Boarding House?" Jeremy asked.

"No can do; I should've been back there an hour ago and your girlfriend keeps making me later…"

"I'm here, I'm here… Let's go!"

"We're taking your car."

"Why?"

"Because I used mine to catch the bad guy… or I think he's the bad guy. Actually, if you think about it, the guy didn't seem that bad. He tried to help me and…"

"Caroline! I thought we were in a hurry," Bonnie protested.

"What is she talking about?" Jeremy asked as they walked to the car.

"They got Robert…the guy that came with Matt's mom and we don't know if he's a vampire or a werewolf," she explained.

"Oh, that's good. Let's all go to the boarding house then!"

***season three – off the wagon***

"No one's home," Matt said.

"Are you sure?" Tyler asked

"If I'm sure? Are you… Look, the house is empty. Yeah, I'm sure. Try calling Caroline again; maybe she'll answer if she knows it's you!"

"You did not just say that," Tyler shouted.

"Well, you're the one that spend the night in a car with her," Matt fired back.

"You are the one that spend night after night in bed with her; you're the one she called 'boyfriend' over the last few months; you're the one she protects and you're the one she wants to be with. Do you really want to play this game?"

"I know she cares about me… but…"

"Cares about you? Dude, she loves you!"

"She says she does, but … the way she looks at you… it's… she's never looked at me like that. I see it and I don't know how to react to it. I'm not ready… I still don't want to be part of this crazy… mystic world you two live in, but I don't think I'm ready to see her moving on with you either…"

"Well, I'm glad you finally got that out."

"I…" Matt didn't get to say anything because he felt like there was nothing left to say.

They got back to Tyler's and Matt took a seat on the couch, watching Tyler pull his phone out of his pocket to call Caroline.

***season thee – off the wagon***

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Damon asked.

"Yes, I'm sure," Elena answered, getting into the passenger seat of the car.

"It might not work, you know. She might not want to help us," he said, starting the car.

"I know, you already said that, but at least we'll know we tried."

"Ok then, so London it is."

**N**_: Please take a minute and leave a review, I really want to know what you guys think! It's not easy writing plot lines for every character, I'm sorry if some of them are weak or don't make much sense; suggestions are also welcome. _


	10. Chapter 10

**N**: _So that day of the week again…and finally some Delena on a deeper level…you'll see what I'm talking about. Please, do enjoy!_

_Thank you Valerie (2serendipity) for beta-reading this crazy, long chapters; you rock!_

**Good or bad**

"Stay behind me!" Damon said, and Elena took a step backwards. He knocked on the door softly and it opened almost immediately.

"I was wondering when you'd get here…" a blonde woman said from the other side, "I can't help you…I won't help you, but then you already knew that, Damon, didn't you?" she asked and Damon nodded. "You're not here alone," the woman said and Damon stepped aside, revealing Elena standing behind him.

"Beatrice, this is Elena; Elena, meet Beatrice," Damon said, Beatrice smiled. She extended her hand and grabbed Elena's, holding it in her own for a few moments.

"Oh…She's light to your darkness…but she's…hhhmmm…poor soul, so much pain, sadness and guilt," she mumbled and Elena's eyes flew in Damon's direction.

"I told you she was special," he said.

"I wish I could tell you that you wouldn't lose anyone else, that your pain was over…but it's not. Please, come in!" she said and Damon and Elena stepped inside. "It's been 19 years; I'm surprised you even remembered where I live," Beatrice turned and walked over to the sofa, but didn't sit down; instead, she motioned for them to do that. "I can't help you save him, Damon. I know he's your brother and I'll keep my promise to you: I won't kill him, but I can't help him… You know how he killed my sister," her voice was now sad and full of emotions.

"He did, but he's not the same person anymore. It happened 20 years ago…"

"I was just a kid and I had to watch him drain the life out of her, drop by drop. He would've killed me too if you hadn't dragged me out of there," she said and Elena looked at Damon who clearly avoided making eye contact with her. "I'm telling you now, what I told you then. Your brother can't be saved. He will always return to the darkness that is buried inside him. You might get him to be good now, but he'll fall off the wagon again and again; you know it's who he is… I'm sorry. Do you mind?" she asked, extending her hand.

"Not at all," he said, placing the palm of his hand in hers.

"The answers you're looking for are not to be found here. The child whose soul resides between life and death is the one who will tell you what you want to know…" she mumbled and Damon's eyebrows met in the middle. "Go home, Damon! Everything you're looking for is there."

"Is there anything else you can tell me?" he asked.

"Stop fighting it; you can't make it go away…and neither can you," she said, her eyes going from Damon to Elena.

"Fight what?" Elena asked, looking confused.

"The feelings you have for each other. There will be pain and death, and all you'll have is one another. If you deny that, you'll lose that too and end up alone. Now, would you like some tea?" she asked and Elena nodded.

***season three – off the wagon***

"Hey Ric, where's Damon? And Elena?" Caroline asked as soon as she, Bonnie and Jeremy stepped inside the Boarding house.

"They left for London; they'll be back tomorrow night," the teacher answered.

"What? Why?" Jeremy exclaimed.

"Looking for a witch; an old friend of Damon's," he answered.

"Damon has a _friend_?" Bonnie asked surprised.

"Hey, don't ask; I know I didn't."

"What about the…Matt's mom's boyfriend?"

"Well, he's immune to vervain, so I guess he's a werewolf. You need to call Tyler and have him bring some wolfsbane to keep him weak," he said and Caroline pulled her phone from her pocket. The device went off and she answered immediately.

"Hey, I was just about to call you…"

***season three – off the wagon***

"Caroline, thank God…" Tyler started and Matt got up from the couch.

"_Hey, I was just about to call you…"_

"Where are you? You left without a word! I… we were worried…"

"_Tyler, listen to me! I need you to bring me some wolfsbane; I'm at the Boarding house. And hurry, it's a full moon tonight!"_

"I know that…but why do you need the…you got Robert already?"

"_Yes, we did…"_

"We…so you weren't alone?"

"_Of course not; Damon and Alaric were there."_

"Oh, good, that's good. We'll be there in ten…"

"_Wait, I don't want Matt involved in any of this. Can you please tell him I'm ok and take him home? Plus he needs to come up with a story to tell his mom for why her boyfriend's gone missing," Caroline said in a weak voice._

"Sure, no problem," he answered.

"I told you she'd answer if she knew it was you," Matt said as soon as Tyler switched off his phone.

"She wanted me to tell you she's fine and that you need to come up with a story to tell your mother. They've already got Robert at the Boarding house. Come on, I'm dropping you off at your house and then I have to go to the Boarding House!"

***season three – off the wagon***

"So… Stefan killed your sister?" Elena asked hesitantly.

Beatrice poured three cups of tea and placed them on the small round table.

"Yes, twenty years ago. I watched him do it…I fainted from the shock and the next thing I knew, I woke up in a hotel room, with him," she said, pointing towards Damon. "He explained what happened and asked me where I lived so he could take me back to my parents…"

"And then she told me her parents died six months before. It was just her and her sister…"

"He stayed with me until I turned 18 to be legally on my own. Also he begged me not to go after his brother, and so I promised I wouldn't."

"Yes, you did."

"Well, you did save my life."

"You were a special girl," he said and Beatrice smiled.

"Yeah, but you didn't know that when you saved me. You can't fool me, Damon Salvatore. You're one of the good guys."

"You'll ruin my reputation," Damon complained, rolling his eyes.

"So, you can see the future?" Elena asked.

"Kind of…I don't see people, just feelings. I see your soul in the future, and if you see someone's soul, you can see what they feel."

"And you saw mine… You told me there would be more pain, but that doesn't mean that someone's going to die, does it?" Elena asked. She prayed the woman would say 'no'; she just couldn't take any more death. Too many people had died, too many people she loved … and she wasn't sure she could go through that again.

"Well… I can't be sure. Like I told you, I don't see people…plus, I don't know you that well, but I can see you're a very caring person. You hold a lot of people in your heart, and one of them, one that's very close to you, is going to disappear from your life, causing you much pain. Not as much as if he or she would die, but the way it's going to happen, is going to be bad. I'm sorry I can't tell you more," Beatrice said apologetically.

"It's ok…" Elena murmured, more for herself.

***season three – off the wagon***

Katherine pushed the door open and stepped inside. She stopped in the middle of the living room and looked around for a few moments. She took a deep breath and licked her lips. She knew he had been there; she'd missed him by a few hours; she could still smell him. She knew it was Stefan; she could identify his scent in a million.

Her plan was not the simplest. She needed to stay away from Klaus and reach Stefan; seeing as they were together, that was an almost impossible task. But Katherine wasn't stupid; she knew Klaus was on to her, and she knew why he'd let her go. She did spend over 500 years running from him, so she kind of knew him. His moves, the way he thought and what he was capable of when his plans didn't work out as he wished.

She took a seat on the white leather couch, crossing her legs, and then spent a few minutes contemplating her next move.

***season three – off the wagon***

"What are we going to do in Boston?" Stefan asked.

"Katherine has been here, and I need to find out what her business was," Klaus answered.

"Yeah, whatever…" Stefan mumbled, obviously bored. "We have another hour or so of driving," he complained.

"I know, good thing we have breakfast to go," Klaus said, taking the hand of a strawberry blonde girl in his. He raised his hand and caressed her face, letting his fingertips slide over her full lips as he licked his, already anticipating the flavour of her blood. The girl smiled at him, then she turned around to face her friend, who was sitting in Stefan's lap.

The girl was in her early twenties. She had dark, curly hair and baby blue eyes. Her skin was white like porcelain, contrasting with her red lips and black eyeliner. She was wearing a tight, short, burgundy dress, showing off her long legs. Identical, pink bite marks were scattered all over her skin, but she didn't seem to mind.

Stefan stuck his hand in her hair, letting his thumb wander over her ear, her cheek, her jaw line, and the girl moaned softly. She bit her bottom lip and crossed her arms around his neck, pulling him towards her. She passed the tip of her tongue over the thin line that separated his lips and they opened, granting her permission to get inside.

She pulled his hair, forcing his head to the side and kissed him…a hungry, desperate kiss. Stefan growled and in two moves he had her back pressed against his chest, her tight, round ass in his lap and her head resting on his shoulder. He brushed her hair away, revealing her long, soft neck. He lowered his head and took a deep breath. His eyes became red rimmed as his soft green eyes changed to an unreal shade of turquoise. He opened his mouth and passed his tongue over his canines. He placed his hand under her jaw and let his deathly fangs pierce her skin.

"She has fire, this one," Klaus said after Stefan finally pulled away.

Stefan turned to face him; their eyes met and they exchanged a conspiratorial look that made Klaus smile. He raised his hand to his mouth and bit into his own wrist, pushing it into the young girl's mouth. The girl didn't protest; she just drank his blood until he pulled his hand away. She wiped her mouth, using the back of her hand, then she licked the blood off it.

Stefan's hand traveled from her waist to her chest, closing around her neck and her fingers clawed at his. Her eyes opened wide as she was desperately trying to breathe, but his grip was making it impossible. A few moments later she sank down lifeless in his arms.

"I like them better when they're dead," Stefan said, brushing a strand of hair out of her face.

***season three – off the wagon***

"What?" Damon asked, taking his eyes off the road to look at her.

"Nothing…" Elena answered, her eyes still fixed on him.

"Would you please stop staring at me like that! It's distracting," he complained, and Elena smiled softly.

"I was just thinking that…"

"Don't!"

"You didn't even let me finish," she complained.

"I know what you were about to say. I saved a little girl from my brother 20 years ago; don't make a big deal out of it! I still killed more people than you can count," he said in a weak voice.

Elena bit her lip nervously as she covered his hand with hers.

"You're not a monster, Damon…" she whispered carefully.

"Yes, I am," he yelled and she pulled her hand back in a second. Before she had the chance to realize what was happening, they were in the middle of nowhere and he was pulling over. He stopped the engine and turned to face her. "Don't look for noble qualities in me, Elena; I don't have any! I'm not good…I'm not him…"

"I know, I know you're not him. I don't want you to be him…I don't want you to be anyone else…I just want you to be you… He was about to kill a little girl 20 years ago, and you saved her. You're not him…I know…I know…" she kept whispering those two words over and over again.

"That doesn't make up for the hundreds of lives I did take and I don't even want to make up for. I won't apologize for it either. I'm a vampire, killing is my nature, blood is my essence…" he said as he let his sharp, white fangs extend. His eyes changed color and thick purple-green veins made their appearance by the corners of his eyes. "I. Am. A. Vampire."

"I know…" she murmured again. She turned more towards him in her seat and took his face between her palms, softly caressing his face, her chocolate brown eyes looking directly into his metallic blue ones. "I know who you are…I don't want you to change. I never wanted you to change. I just want you to accept that there's more to you than just a vampire. You're a man too, and no matter what you say, you have plenty of noble qualities. You're honest, you're passionate, you're loyal, you're determined, you're brave and no matter how much you deny it, you care. You care for your brother, for me, for Caroline whose life you saved even if it meant putting your own in danger."

Suddenly his Camaro was too small and the space seemed to be getting tighter. He was conscious of her delicate hands on his face, her body warmth, her sweet scent, her uneven breath and her wet, rosy tongue caressing her lips.

She was conscious of his cold hand over hers, his right leg touching hers, his slightly opened mouth, his bedazzling scent and his hypnotizing blue eyes.

Her heart started beating a thousand miles a minute. Her hand slid on his face all the way to his mouth, her index finger going over his bottom lip in slow motion, then over one of his fangs. She pressed against the tip of his canine until it cut her skin, and she moaned softly. Blood the color of candy apples started dripping from the tiny wound, touching his lips.

His hand caught hers and pushed her finger into his warm mouth, and he sucked the blood softly through the straw her finger crated. She closed her eyes and let out a deep breath.

Both their phones went off at the same time, making them jump away from each other. Damon let out an animalistic growl and got out of the car, slamming the door with enough force to make the car shake.

Elena passed her hand through her hair and took a few deep breaths before reaching for her phone. She looked at the screen and saw 'Jeremy'. She answered and placed the phone between her shoulder and her ear, using her hands to look for a paper napkin in her bag to cover her still bleeding finger.

**N**: _Here you go, I hope this chapter would make you review…it deserves it, right? _


	11. Chapter 11

**N**: _Thursday again…so here's the next chapter. A long going on, I hope it won't give you a headache, enjoy!_

_Thank you Valerie (2serendipity) for your great beta-read on this! _

**Guess who?**

It was already midnight when they arrived home; Damon got out of the car and sped over to open the door for Elena.

"Thanks," she mumbled and followed him towards the house.

"Finally!" Caroline exclaimed as soon as they got inside.

"You missed me so much, Blondie?" Damon asked with a smirk.

"You wish… By the way, the werewolf didn't turn," she said and Damon raised an eyebrow at her.

Elena came a few steps closer and looked at Damon before directing her attention back to Caroline.

"Maybe he didn't trigger the curse yet," she said.

"Nah, he's healing too quickly and the wolfsbane does affect him. He's turning and twisting in pain, like Tyler does every time he turns, but it doesn't happen…"

"I watched him all night, last night. He was growling like a wolf, but he wasn't a wolf," Alaric said, coming from the kitchen. "But this can wait until morning. We're all exhausted, especially you two," he continued and Elena nodded.

"Yes, I talked to Jeremy; he said to let you know he and Bonnie have news and to meet here in the morning," Elena said.

"Okay, so I'm leaving then … Tyler needs me," Caroline said and using her vampire speed, she was gone before anyone got the chance to say anything.

"I should go too; I'll be back in the morning," Alaric said, following Caroline.

"Wait!" Damon yelled after the teacher. Alaric turned to around, expecting Damon's question. "What about the 'other' wolf?" Damon asked, pointing towards the stairs.

"Oh, Adney said he was going to meditate…don't ask…" Alaric answered, shrugging his shoulders. "He's very nice… It's like he's not even here."

"Thanks Ric, see you in the morning," Damon replied and Alaric nodded.

"No problem; good night, Elena."

"Good night," she answered and Alaric left, leaving them alone.

"Do you mind if I stay here tonight? Jeremy's at Bonnie's and I don't feel like being alone…"

"Not at all, make yourself at home!" Damon said, turning towards the stairs, but Elena caught his hand, forcing him to stop.

"Damon…about what happened in the car…"

"It's ok, Elena; you don't have to explain. We were both tired…nothing happened…" he mumbled and Elena let go of his arm and nodded slightly. "Go to bed, Elena; get some sleep, and just forget about tonight!" he added and Elena didn't know what to say.

"Hmm…ok, good night, Damon," she murmured.

"Night," he threw over his shoulder as he was climbing up the stairs.

She remembered she still had two of Elisaveta's journals she hadn't read. She went to Stefan's room, took them from her desk and headed back downstairs, to the kitchen. With a big glass of milk and a piece of chocolate, she went into the living room. She took a seat in Damon's arm chair in front of the fire and opened the journal that had 'number 18' imprinted on the cover.

***season three – off the wagon***

"Hey there," Stefan said absently, as the brunette girl opened her eyes slowly.

"What happened? My head's killing me…" she complained and Stefan smiled.

"You're dead… but don't worry, the pain will go away once you feed."

"Dead? What are you talking about?" she asked as she pushed herself into a sitting position.

Stefan got up from his seat and slowly made his way towards the girl, who cautiously took a step back. The gesture made Stefan smile.

"You remember," he said and the girl nodded slightly.

"I remember you…your face…you…you're a vampire," she said, sounding scared.

"Very good. Now it would be very nice if you would remember everything we talked about so I won't have to explain it to you again," he said.

"Klaus… He gave me his blood, so I'm going to be a vampire?"

"No; better: you're going to be a hybrid."

"What's that?"

"You're going to be a vampire and a werewolf. All you have to do is feed until you kill. We have to wait until the sun goes down and there will be a lot more innocent victims on the road." He said with a wink and the girl raised an eyebrow at him. "You're going to be immortal, Catlin…"

***season three – off the wagon***

_I came out of the bathroom and crawled into my bed. I missed Klaus; I wasn't used to having that huge bed all to myself. I needed his warmth beside me…and to think he'd be gone another two weeks…._

_I turned to my right and blew out the candle; the room went dark…so dark. I closed my eyes and prayed for a deep, undisturbed sleep._

_A few minutes later I heard noises around the room and pushed myself into a sitting position._

"_Who's there?" I asked._

"_It's me," I heard his voice answer._

"_Elijah…what are you doing here?" _

"_I needed to see you…" he mumbled and I realized he was close to me; I could smell the alcohol on his breath. "I need to talk to you…"_

"_And this couldn't wait until morning?"_

"_No…I need to…now…tell you…" _

"_You're drunk," I said as he got even closer and I could see his face in the moonlight._

"_A little," he admitted. "He's dead…" _

"_Who's dead?"_

"_Alexander… Alexander's dead…"_

"_Alexander? As in, your brother?"_

"_My brother… and now he's dead. It's my fault; I should've been there."_

"_Elijah, listen to me; look at me! You have to calm down and tell me what happened!"_

"_He…there was an attack at night, they weren't prepared and he was there and he just…died…"_

"_Why do you say it's your fault? You couldn't have known about the attack."_

"_I was supposed to have his back; he always had mine. He was my big brother…and I didn't go back with him, I wanted to stay here to be around you. You fascinated me…you're so beautiful, and so smart. When you walk into a room, you bring light into it. You believe in a better world, in love and all those stories that end with 'happily ever after'. You see the best in people; you read them and get to know them. You know me… I stayed because there's something between us…"_

"_Yes, we're friends," I answered._

"_Friends… No, that's not it; that's not the way you look at me. It's more than that, a lot more and if you're denying it, you're lying. You're lying to me, to him and to yourself."_

"_I'm… Listen…" I didn't get to finish my sentence, because his lips crushed mine in a violent, possessive way. I immediately pushed him away and wiped my mouth. He tasted funny, like cinnamon and expensive whisky. "What's wrong with you? I care about you, Elijah, I do, but I love Klaus…he's my husband and he always will be…"_

"_I know you love him, I never said you didn't…but you feel something for me too…"_

_The next thing I knew the door flew open and Alexander walked in._

"_Everything ok? I heard noises and I know Klaus's not at home," he said and Elijah stood up from beside my bed and walked to him like he was in a trance._

"_Alexander… Is that really you?" he asked. "I…but how are you… You were dead…I saw you… Your heart wasn't beating and there was so much blood…"_

"_I was hurt, but it wasn't my blood you saw. I'm fine now," he answered, walking towards Elijah. They hugged and Elijah said he could've sworn he held his dead body in his arms and that's when it hit me…it happened to the first born son already, that meant Elijah was next and then Klaus…I had to do something before it would get to him…_

'Get to him before what? Do what?' Elena wondered. 'Why couldn't that woman explain what she was up to,' she thought.

She put the journal on the table beside her and pulled the small blanket over her legs. Suddenly a weird sound caught her attention and she literally jumped from the arm chair. She looked around a few times, but everything looked the same. Strange, she was sure she'd heard a noise...When she turned around, Damon's hand covered her mouth, pressing her against the wall and pushing his body into hers. Elena could feel every muscle and every groove on his body.

Slowly he freed her mouth and pressed his index finger over her lips, letting her know he wanted her to be quiet – he probably didn't know that even if she had wanted to, she wouldn't be able to talk.

He was so close to her that he could smell the soft, fresh scent of her body lotion; he could feel her breasts pressed against his chest, and one of her smooth legs between his. Her small hands were on each side of his waist and his finger was enjoying the softness of her lips. He would give an arm to kiss her right now. He slid his finger over her bottom lip, down her neck, her shoulder…and it all got too much when she let out a soft gasp.

He immediately took his hands off her and placed them on each side of her body, against the wall behind her. She retracted her hands as well, looking uncomfortably at the floor.

"Aren't you two cozy," Katherine said, approaching them.

"Katherine…what the hell are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to help Stefan," Damon asked, still standing in front of Elena as a shield.

"I was…I am…I just need to talk to you," she said and Damon nodded.

They walked into the kitchen, leaving Elena alone in the living room.

***season three – off the wagon***

She changed the station and a rock song came on, making her raise the volume and sing along with the Goo-goo Dolls. A big, bright sign caught her attention and she read 'Welcome to Mystic Falls'. 'Finally' she exclaimed to herself; she'd been driving for hours. On the other hand, her new Lamborghini Spider was a blast to drive on those deserted routes. She lit a cigarette and opened the window, resting her arm outside. Her electric pink lipstick coloured the white end of her cigarette, and a smirk appeared in the corner of her mouth when she thought about the damage she'd do in this town.

***season three – off the wagon***

"Klaus and Stefan split," Katherine said as soon as they got inside the room. "Klaus went looking for me," Damon raised an eyebrow and she nodded. "He thinks I'm in Boston."

"Why would he think that?"

"Because I was, I led him there, but it's a big city and it will take him at least two days before he'll realize I'm not actually there or have ever been for more than a few hours. The thing is, he got there with Stefan and then pouf, Stefan disappeared. I've missed his ripper days, Damon. I heard about them, but I never witnessed them, so I don't know what he thinks, what he plans to do. If he even has a plan…I don't know how to find him."

"So you came to me…"

"Yeah…you're his brother and I know you've been on his trail over the years when he went off the wagon."

"I did…he…he's not the Stefan you know anymore. He's a vicious creature of the night, the only thing he has in mind now is to kill, to feed, and to turn people for fun. He likes to go to small villages where everybody knows everybody and kill them all one by one, so the last few will know he'll come for them. People's fear gives him great pleasure, and the more terrified they are, the better."

"Wow…and they say you're the unstable one," Katherine said and Damon had her pressed against the wall in a split second, his hand around her neck; he lowered his head towards her, close enough to almost touch her skin.

"Why did you tell Elena you loved both of us…me and Stefan?" he asked.

"Because it's true," she answered as she pushed Damon against the kitchen table. A glass slipped on off the table and fell to the floor, the noise making Elena jump from behind the wall. She pressed her hand against her chest and took a deep, silent breath in order to calm her heartbeat so Katherine or Damon wouldn't hear it.

"True, my ass; you told me yourself you never loved me! Remember that night when you supposedly came to say goodbye, right before running off and killing Caroline? You told me then that you never loved me, that it was always Stefan and that it would always be Stefan," he mumbled and Elena's heart ached, remembering telling him those words herself that very same night.

"You shouldn't believe everything you hear, Damon. I thought you knew me better than that; you were always the one that saw me for who I really was, even before you became a vampire…" she purred, rubbing her hand on his chest, his abs, and back again.

Elena took a deep breath and stopped in the doorway, just in time to see Damon's hand tangle in Katherine's hair. He pulled her lips over his and kissed her… They looked like he was about to eat her and she was about to rip his clothes off.

"That doesn't mean I believe you," he whispered in her ear. "That was just my frustration that I can't kiss _her_," he continued and he could swear she looked hurt for a split second.

"You still want me, Damon! Admit it!" she said, smirking.

Damon pushed her off him and reached for something from his pocket. He placed the small object in her hand and closed her fingers over it.

"The guy that gave you this, is dead; he doesn't exist anymore," he said firmly.

"What about the guy that just gave it back?" she asked, recognizing the bracelet with her lapis lazuli stone in it and the little locket Damon had given her a hundred and forty-six years ago.

"That guy's off limits to you, Katherine," he answered and Elena smiled slightly.

"Oh, I bet you're happy; you got them both," Katherine said to Elena, and took off before anyone got the chance to say anything. Damon turned around and saw Elena standing in the doorway. He started walking towards her slowly.

"How long have you been there?" he asked.

"A while…I saw you kiss her…" and if he wouldn't know better, he would think he could detect a hint of jealousy in her voice; but that wasn't possible now, was it?

"Damon!" they heard Caroline yell from the hallway. Damon sped over, leaving Elena alone again.

"I'm not deaf, Blondie. I heard you. What's wrong?"

"Well, I thought you and Tyler could talk to Robert. One of each species, you know?"

"Alright, call the dog! I'll go take a shower, I have to wash off the taste of betrayal," Damon said and ran up the stairs before Caroline had the chance to respond.

"What's with him?" she asked Elena a few minutes later.

"Katherine was here," Elena answered.

"Oh…that explains his mood."

***season three – off the wagon***

"He says he'll only talk with the doppelganger," Tyler said as he came from the dungeon. Damon followed a few seconds after.

"We'll make him talk," he said, heading towards an old rusty cabinet, but Elena stopped him.

"I'll talk to him. He can't hurt me through the door, so I'll be fine," she said, walking towards the basement.

"Aren't you going to stop her?" Caroline asked.

"Why would I stop her?" Damon fired back.

"Because you always stop her…"

"She's not a little girl; she can take care of herself. If she wants to go talk to a wolf by herself, who am I to stop her, right?" Damon answered. He walked over to the liquor cabinet and poured himself a generous portion of bourbon.

***season three – off the wagon***

"So, you wanted to talk to me. What are you and why are you really in Mystic Falls?" Elena asked.

"My name really is Robert Evans and I'm here to warn you," he answered, approaching the door and Elena took a step back. "I'm not going to hurt you, I promise."

"To warn me about what?"

"The sacrifice…the Originals, they know you are the doppelganger, and they'll come for you."

"Well, that's too little, too late. The sacrifice happened and the curse is broken. Now, I'll ask you again before I'll go get Damon and he's _not_ the one for words: what are you?"

"I'm a werewolf," he said simply.

"It's not working; my friends say you didn't turn."

"It's the ring," he said, showing her the big, unusual ring on his right hand finger. "The ring is spelled; it prevents me from turning, but the pain's still there. My body's preparing to turn and the spell pushes back, it's like a fight that takes place in my body. Vampire blood usually helps me; it makes it less painful."

"Oh…" Elena mumbled. She didn't know what to say, if she should trust him or not.

"Harmony told me I might be too late…" he said and Elena took a step closer.

"That's the name of the witch that spelled your ring and send you here to warn me?" she asked and he nodded.

"Yes, Harmony Bennett. She's a great woman, I met her three years ago. A year after I triggered the curse. She helped me a lot, I owe her so much…I couldn't say no when she asked me to do this. The plan was to enter your circle, gain your trust and explain everything to you, but I guess you are already familiar with the whole thing."

"So you planned on marring Kelly to get to me?"

"Well, believe it or not, but I actually like the woman. I don't want to marry her, not yet anyway, but she just wouldn't come home. I proposed, since I know for a fact that no woman can resist sharing that with friends and family."

"What else did Harmony Bennett tell you?"

"She told me if I have any problems all I need to do is to find her daughter, Bonnie…I think she said…I'm not sure though, I'm really bad with names, always mix them up."

"Oh God…" Elena shouted.

***season three – off the wagon***

Bonnie and Jeremy walked in holding hands, but she immediately let go as all the eyes in the room got stuck on them.

"We have news," Jeremy said.

"Yeah…we have some of that too," Damon said in a sarcastic tone.

"Jeremy's seeing dead vampires and I think he'll be able to talk to Elijah. With a bit of luck he is where his whole family is," Bonnie said.

"Bonnie…Robert was sent here by your mother…" Elena said in a weak voice and Bonnie's eyes opened wide.

"What?" she asked, surprised.

**N**: _Here it is, please take a minute and leave a review, it will be highly appreciated! _


	12. Chapter 12

**N**: _I am terribly sorry for the delay; my internet connection's a mess here. I hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive me._

_This chapter's short, I know, but I hope you'll like it._

_Thank you to my wonderful beta Valerie (2serendipity)! _

**Bloody truth**

"That's not possible," Bonnie said, looking at the floor like the answer to every question of the universe was imprinted there.

"Are you sure? Where exactly is your witchy mother anyway? Last time I checked on her, she was in Colorado; and that was like, four years ago `or so," Damon asked, and Bonnie turned around to look at him.

"You checked on my mother?" Bonnie asked, surprised.

"Well…yeah…" Damon answered, looking a little embarrassed. "It was the whole 'protect the Bennett witches' thing. Don't you remember?"

"Oh…I…I don't know where she is…"

"Well then, for all we know, she _could_ be the one that sent _it_ – whatever '_it'_ is – here, right?"

"_He_ is a werewolf," Elena answered, getting the satisfaction of seeing everyone's attention turning to her at once. "He didn't turn because of his ring. You know, the ring Matt thought was to protect him from sunlight. He says that Bonnie's mother spelled it for him a year after he triggered the curse, and that he hasn't turned since."

"What? There's a ring… a ring that can stop me from turning? Why didn't anyone tell me this sooner?" Tyler asked, looking around.

"Because no one knew, I guess," Elena answered.

"There wasn't anything in Emily's grimoire about it, or in any of the other grimoires we took from the Martins. I didn't know such a spell even existed," Bonnie said.

"Maybe it didn't exist. I mean, every witch can make her own spells, right?" Damon asked, and Bonnie nodded in approval.

"Yes, they can; but it takes a lot of power, more than my mom had, I think."

"Maybe she had help? Who knows; maybe she got some dead witches to help her , just like you did; only, you blew it of course," Damon remarked, gaining him a sharp look from Elena.

"Oh, don't give me that look! Am I the only one who thinks this would've turned out way better if Bonnie would've killed Klaus like she was supposed to, _when_ she was supposed to?"

"Damon, we've talked about this before. Bonnie could've died using that much power…" Elena started.

"Yeah, as opposed to Jenna, John, Jules…I mean, I hated the woman and I can't really say I minded her death all that much, but still. Now Stefan's off the wagon and many lives have been and will be lost because Klaus is still walking the earth. You really tell me it's better that all these people died, and more probably will die instead of just one?" he asked, looking directly into Elena's eyes.

One single tear left her eye to run down her cheek, and Damon had to resort to his last bit of strength not to run over and wipe it away with his fingers, then take her fragile body in his arms, to hold her tight and tell her everything was going to be ok, to apologize for the harsh words that he had just used to her.

"He is right…" Bonnie said. Her eyes were still glued to the floor.

Before anyone had the chance to say anything, Elena ran out of the room.

***season three – off the wagon***

"Hey there, sugar, how come a girl like you gets to be all alone at this time of night?" the guy asked. She turned around just in time to witness the huge smile on his face. "I'm Luke, and you are?" He continued.

"Whoever you want me to be," she answered with a smirk.

"Oh, I like that! How about I just call you Claire...?"

"Sounds great."

"So, _Claire_; do you wanna dance?"

"How about we go someplace quiet instead?" she whispered into his ear and he smiled, nodding in approval.

She grabbed his hand and made her way towards the door, looking over her shoulder to make sure he was still there. And sure enough, he was following her like a lost puppy.

"Nice ride!" the guy said, sounding surprised.

"I know… but you won't get to see the interior," she answered. When she turned around, her irises were still crystal blue, but her cornea was bloody red. Thick green veins were disfiguring her face and two pointy white fangs caressed her bottom lip.

"What…? Your face…it's…what are you?" he asked in shock.

"Really? Come on; fangs, bloody eyes…and there's a tip: I'll drink your blood…all of it, until there's nothing left!"

"You're a…you're a…"

"Come on, boy, I haven't got all night. I got places to be, people to kill!"

"You're a vampire."

"Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding… And the winner is: … sorry, I forgot your name again."

"Luke…th-e name's Luke," he answered with a trembling voice.

"Well, Luke, first I need you to deliver a message for me. We'll let the players in this town know we're playing, which is only fair, right?" she said and he just watched her, confused. She took a step closer to him and he took a few steps back, until his back hit the car.

"No, no, no, not the car! Do you have any idea how hard it is to get the stains of blood off…_anything_?"

"Wha…what…"

"Come here!" she ordered, looking him directly in the eyes, leaving him no choice but to do as he was told. She bit into her wrist and pushed it into his mouth. "Now it's my turn," she said, pulling on his hair to force his head aside. "It's only fair that I get to drink yours, since you drank mine."

Her deathly canines pricked his skin…only a soft moan escaped his lips.

Soon she was holding a dead body.

"Now be a nice boy and don't stain my leather seats," she mumbled as she dragged the body into the car.

***season three – off the wagon***

"No, Bonnie…he's not right; why the hell did you say that?" Jeremy snapped.

Damon just shrugged his shoulders and before anyone could say anything, he followed Elena up the stairs. He knocked softly on the door, but he didn't wait for an answer; he just opened the door and walked inside. He stopped in the middle of the room and just looked at the girl curled up in the middle of the bed.

He'd done it again; he'd hurt what was probably the last person in the world he wanted to hurt…but he had to, he had to push her away, keep her away from him. They weren't thinking straight: she missed his brother, _he_ missed his brother, and the worst part was…he was the only one who knew just how _really_ gone Stefan was. He'd read the newspapers; he'd seen it all before. He wasn't exactly lying to her: they would …no, _he_ would get Stefan back, but it would take years and years to get him back on track; years that for him and Stefan didn't mean anything, but for a human…for _her_, it meant everything. She would ruin her life if she insisted on waiting for Stefan.

"I'm not here to apologize," he said.

"I know…" she whispered.

"Elena…" he started carefully, but even the smooth voice he used didn't make her turn to face him. "…I know you want him back. I want him back too. I mean, he's my brother and I love him; God knows I tried not to love him, but I can't stop. I owe it to him to try and save him, since he's like this now because of me… so I need to do this, but you don't… and you'll just ruin your life trying."

"You're wrong… I owe it to him not to give up on him too," she said in a soft voice.

"Elena… you chose to live a human life, so now you have to live it, or it will all have been for nothing. I'm sure that that's not the kind of living John had in mind when he gave his life for yours."

"That's a cheap shot, Damon."

"I know, but it's all I've got. Look, Elena, I'm not asking you not to love him or not to think about him, not to miss him and not to want him back. I'm not asking you to forget or to stop hoping, but you can't go on like that. He's gone and I'm responsible for you now…"

"You don't get to be responsible for me. I can take care of myself. I'll be 18 in like…a few hours, I'm as good as an adult now," she shouted as she turned to face him.

"Then act like one!" he retorted and he was gone before she could even open her mouth.

***season three – off the wagon***

"Is she ok?" Alaric asked. All eyes were on him as he descended the stairs.

"She'll be fine," Damon answered. "And we're taking a break from all this; we're having a party, tomorrow."

"But…do you really think that…" Alaric started, but he didn't get to finish his sentence as Damon interrupted him.

"It's Elena's 18th birthday. We're having a party and that's final. You think you can all put your own drama aside for one night on her account?"

Everyone nodded.

"Good; Blondie you still know how to throw a party, don't you? You used to be very good at this stuff back in your living days…"

"Hey!" The young vampire shouted. "I think I can still manage. At the Grill, I suppose?"

"No…" Damon said and everyone looked at him, surprised. "Here. This place is definitely big enough and I want her to remember some happiness in this house since nothing good happened here. Maybe that way, she'll look at it differently, maybe…"

"Ok, I can work with that, but that has to go…oh, that's pretty," Damon stopped talking and his eyes followed Caroline who was now pacing around the room.

Caroline stopped in the middle of the room and turned to face the group. "I'll make it look good, I promise," she said.

"I don't doubt it."

**N**: _Here you go, please do take a minute and leave a review, it would mean a lot to me!_

_The next one will be my version of Elena's 18__th__ birthday, one think I can assure you it will be full of surprises. _


	13. Chapter 13

**N**_: So…I'm sorry again of the last chapter's delay; we are back on the usual day. This chapter's a bit of a roller-coaster, but I really hope you'll enjoy the ride. Please try to take a minute and write a review, it means a lot to me, plus you'll get spoilers._

_As always a big, big thank you goes to me amazing beta Valerie (2serendipity) for her great work!_

**Lie to me at the end!**

"There are a lot of people downstairs," Damon mumbled, closing the door behind him.

Elena was standing in front of the mirror, her eyes fixed on her own reflection. She was wearing a white dress that made her look like a misplaced angel that got lost somehow on its way to heaven.

"I wish he was here," she murmured.

Damon took a few steps forward and stopped behind her. He didn't need to here her say who was she talking about; he knew, of course.

"I got you something," he said and their eyes met in the mirror. His arms went around her and he opened a small box in front of her.

"Damon, it's beautiful… I…it looks familiar…" she said as her eyes opened wide.

"It belonged to your mother. She sold it when she went to college. I saw it in a picture and I remembered that I'd seen it somewhere a few years ago. It took me a while, but I finally found it."

"You looked for it… for me?"

"I thought it would look good on you…and make you…you know, feel closer to her. I also took the liberty of putting some vervain inside, since, you know, you lost the other one," He said as he gently placed the necklace around her neck. When his cold fingers made contact with her hot flesh, she trembled slightly.

A split second later, Damon had jumped backwards and taken a few steps away from her as if she were burning him.

"It looks good on you," he said quietly and turned around, making his way towards the door.

He stopped just a step in front of it and turned back to her. "By the way… You look beautiful…" he whispered and then walked swiftly out of the room.

But even if his hearing was still a bit rusty, he heard her whispered words: "Thank you… You look good too… But then again, you always do." He couldn't help but smile.

***season three – off the wagon***

"So, today is the day," Klaus said, coming from the bedroom.

Stefan was sitting on the couch, his legs stretched out on the small coffee table in front of him; he was holding a big, square glass in his hand that was only half full. He drank all of it in one go and placed the glass on the table. A second later, he was standing and looking over at Klaus.

"What?" he asked as if he'd just gotten there and was trying to figure out what the conversation was about.

"Today… It's her birthday. How does that make you feel?"

"Nothing special. Actually, it doesn't make me feel anything…" Stefan said. His voice was cold and detached like he was talking about someone he barely knew. His reaction brought a satisfied smile to Klaus's face.

"Hmm…"

"Although, I did plan something special… I've sent her a gift," Stefan said with a smile.

"Did you now?"

"I assure you she will never forget this birthday," he said and got of the room before Klaus had the chance to say anything else.

***season three – off the wagon***

"You're hiding," Caroline said through the half open door.

"Yes…" Elena admitted.

"In Damon's room?" the blonde asked, surprised.

"Well… It seemed like the last place anyone would be looking for me. But for some reason, it seems to be the first place _you_ looked."

"Yeah…you've got to admit that you've been spending a lot of time in this room over the last few weeks."

"Is that wrong?" Elena asked softly… and almost shyly.

"No, of course it's not wrong. He has been there for you a lot and… No, it's not wrong."

"And what?" Elena pushed.

"He… He makes you… I don't know… look alive…" Caroline mumbled.

"Alive? Don't I usually look alive?"

"Not lately, not really… you smile sometimes and you say you're ok…but it looks fake; there's nothing in your eyes, no passion, no emotion…nothing. But when Damon's around… it's different somehow. When you're mad at him, you're really mad… I can tell … because your eyes… they burn when you look at him."

"And isn't that wrong? It feels wrong…"

"I don't know what to say, Elena. Do you want me to tell you it's wrong?" Caroline asked, taking a step closer to Elena.

"I don't know," Elena answered, at a loss. And honestly, she didn't know what it was that she wanted.

"Well, maybe you should think about it then. But until you've got yourself figured out, you should come back to the party. The best part's coming up. The embarrassing moment where everybody stands up and sings 'happy birthday' for you," Caroline said, winking at Elena.

***season three – off the wagon***

"What are you looking at? You seem miles away," Bonnie asked Jeremy.

He'd been standing in the middle of the room, gazing at the chair in front of him, like some pink elephant was sitting there.

"I just…nothing…" he mumbled, but his eyes never left the chair.

"Who is it?" Bonnie asked, as she figured out that her boyfriend must be staring at one of the ghosts that kept visiting him. She was sure they had a message, a higher purpose to be there…to warn them about something. Her senses were tingling… and up until now, her senses had never been wrong.

"Anna…" Jeremy murmured.

The hurt expression on Bonnie's face lasted for about two seconds. By the time Jeremy turned to face her, it was gone.

"Every time she looks at me, I get this strange feeling that I've lost something and I don't know what it is," Jeremy said and Bonnie raised an eyebrow at him.

"Maybe you did lose something?"

"Yeah, but what? I can't remember losing anything and she… _they_… don't speak. She keeps showing me her hand… Am I supposed to know what that means?" he asked, confused.

"I… I don't know Jeremy. We'll do more research; we'll figure it out eventually."

"I just hope it won't be too late by then…"

***season three – off the wagon***

"Having fun?"

"Yeah, I am. It turned out great, right?" Caroline asked, turning around.

"You disappeared… I looked for you…" Tyler said and Caroline smiled sweetly at him.

"You did?"

"Yeah…"

"I went to Damon's room," she said and Tyler's eyes opened wide. "No, it's not what you think! I was just looking for Elena; she was feeling down, missing Stefan and all, you know. Were you jealous?"

"Jealous? No, I just… you… and… well…" Tyler stuttered and Caroline put her hands on her hips, watching him from head to toe with a slightly amused look on her face. Tyler huffed, "Fine! So I'm jealous of a dead guy…"

"Hey, I'm dead too, remember? And that 'dead' guy saved my life… from you," Caroline said firmly and Tyler looked ashamed at the floor.

"Yeah, I know that…It's just that I know you two had a thing once and he was kind of a dick to you…"

"We had a thing a long time ago and we're both _very_ much over it, but I think it's cute you're looking out for me," she said, grabbing his hand. "Come on, let's dance!"

"Oh, I don't think that's such a great…"

"Come on, tough guy; don't tell me that even after the hell we've been through, you're afraid of a little dance?"

"I'm not… it's not the dance," he said and Caroline raised an inquiring eyebrow at him. "It's you… it's dancing with you."

"Well, good news! You can step on my foot, I won't feel a thing," she said and smiled; he smiled back and they made their way towards the dance floor.

***season three – off the wagon***

"Do you want it?" Damon asked and Elena looked at him, confused.

"Do I want what?" she asked.

"The room; well, my room. You're always here, and I get the feeling that you like it. You can have it if you want. I'll just sleep somewhere else."

"No… Don't get me wrong; I like this room and the huge bed plays a big role in it, but I'm not here for the room…"

"Elena…" he started.

"I'm here to thank you. I know the party was your idea and it's your house…"

"Actually, I'm pretty sure it's yours," he interrupted her.

"Yeah, but you should have it back, since me dying and all kind of defeated the purpose. You should put it in the name of someone that doesn't die on regular basis," she smiled slightly, but Damon could tell she wasn't actually amused.

"In that case I might have to look for someone from outside this town, because everyone in this one seems to have that habit of dying that you're talking about," he said and she smiled again. "I have another gift for you."

"Really? What is it?"

"You'll see that later. For now, let's just go back to what's left of the party! Don't worry, it's just us…you know, the old gang…"

"I want my gift now please!"

"But they're waiting for you and it could take a while," he protested.

"It's ok; I'm sure they won't mind."

"Fine! You are so stubborn! Okay, I just need you to take off your necklace."

"Excuse me?"

"Elena, do you trust me?"

"Yes," she answered simply.

"Then please, take off your necklace."

"Ok," she murmured as she took of the necklace he'd just given her and placed it on the small table beside the bed.

"Lie down and close your eyes!" he ordered.

"What?"

"You'll have to do as I say, Elena, or I can't give you your gift."

"Are you going to kill me?" she asked as she lay down on the bed.

"You're ruining the surprise," he mumbled and she smiled.

She did as told. A few seconds later, she felt his cold hands settle over hers. His fingers curled around hers and he whispered to her that she'd be ok and there was no need to worry. Soon his voice faded away and she was alone, suddenly standing in front of her house with the key in her hand. She looked around a few times before opening the door and going inside. Everything was dark, but it was quite warm. She'd dropped her keys onto the round table in the hallway and made her way towards the living room, when all of a sudden the lights flashed on and everybody started singing 'happy birthday'.

She looked at the group of people and saw her parents standing right behind the mass of teenagers. Bonnie was the first to jump and hug her breathless, followed by Caroline, Matt, Tyler and a few other friends from school.

Even though she subconsciously knew that it was just a dream that Damon was giving her, she felt like coming home; it felt real… it was perfect. The love for her parents, the joy of having them there together with all of her friends… every emotion was there.

She hugged her parents tight, and it was a bittersweet feeling because she knew she would probably never do it again. She couldn't stop the burning tears from breaking free.

"Oh, don't cry, baby! You're all grown up now!" her mother teased.

"Well, look who's talking! She's just sensitive, caring and passionate, exactly like you," her father told her mother and Elena smiled, hugging him tighter.

"And she's stubborn, just like you," her mom returned.

"I love you so much," Elena said in a whisper.

"We love you too, baby," they said in unison.

***season three – off the wagon***

Damon reached out to wipe away the wet, salty tears that were dripping down Elena's cheeks. She looked beautiful enough to make his unbeating heart ache in his chest; she was smiling, and it was a real smile, a smile that resonated all through his body.

He hadn't been sure he should do this at first. After all, it would be like lying to her, right? Showing her a fantasy, something unreal, something that wasn't right. But then he'd thought that the girl surely deserved some kind of fantasy in her life, so he'd decided to go with it anyway; even if she' might slap him after coming back from it.

He took a deep breath and proceeded to the next step.

***season three – off the wagon***

Elena finally let go of her parents, just in time to have her brother pick her up and spin her around.

"So, how do you feel at age 18, sister?" he asked.

"The same! I'm sorry to disappoint you, but your problems don't go away all of a sudden and you don't wake up all wise and mature on your 18th birthday," she replied.

"Well, you've just ruined my plans," he teased. "Someone's here to see you," he said, taking a step to the right and Elena saw Stefan coming out of the kitchen.

"Stefan?" she asked, surprised.

"Stefan!" she said again, running into his arms.

"Happy birthday, Elena," he whispered in her ear before kissing her on both cheeks. Then he cupped her face and his lips touched hers softly. She hesitated a few moments before finally responding to his kiss. She kissed his nose, his eyes, his jaw…

"I've missed you," she mumbled between kisses.

"I love you, Elena, don't you ever doubt that!" he said and she nodded.

***season three – off the wagon***

"Where's Elena? Bonnie asked when she saw Caroline coming from the kitchen.

"I don't know; the last time I saw her, she was… on her way to the bathroom, I think," Caroline said. She was lying of course. The last time she'd seen Elena was in Damon's room… But was Elena still there? Come to think of it, where was Damon?

"Strange. I haven't seen her in over an hour," Bonnie said.

"It's probably nothing; she just misses Stefan, you know. Especially on a day like this… She's probably in his room, taking some time to… feel close to him." And the lying goes on! Caroline thought.

"Maybe I should check on her."

"Oh, I'm sure she'll be back as soon as she feels ready," the vampire offered.

"You know, you're right."

"Hey, guys, has anyone seen Damon?" Alaric asked suddenly and everyone started looking around.

"No, not in a while. Why?" Jeremy answered.

"It's nothing; I just wanted to say goodbye," Alaric answered.

Damon and Elena were both missing for more than half an hour… By now, everyone was thinking the same thing, but no one said anything.

***season three – off the wagon***

Elena opened her eyes slowly; she blinked a few times to force the tears away. She pushed herself to a sitting position and looked at Damon, the intensity in her eyes burning into his.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"You're welcome. I was afraid I'd make it worse. I knew you missed Stefan and I guess you wished your parents were here, so I thought I could lie to you for a few minutes."

"I… It's the best gift I've ever received, but… something was still missing… well, more like someone…" she said and he raised an eyebrow at her. He was sure he'd included everyone… all her friends and family.

"Who did I forget?" he asked impatiently.

"You… You weren't there," she said softly, getting up from the bed.

"I… I didn't think…"

"What, you didn't think I'd want you there?"

"Something like that."

"Damon… All I've ever wanted for my birthday, was to be around the people I love… All the people I love," she said with emphasis, before almost running from the room before she said too much.

She'd just got to the bottom of the stairs when the front door opened and a brunette woman Elena had never seen before, slipped inside and closed the door behind her.

"Hi there," she said and everyone stopped with whatever it was they were doing to look at her. "My name's Caitlin and I'm here to deliver a gift for Elena Gilbert from Stefan," she said and Elena tried to advance towards the girl, but Damon's hand stopped her.

"Which one of you is Jeremy?" She asked and Jeremy took a step forward.

"That would be me," he said and the girl smiled.

"Good," she mumbled, "Stefan says 'happy birthday' and he hopes you'll like his present."

"What present?" Elena asked, confused.

"Your brother's death," Caitlin said and took off running towards Jeremy. Before anyone had the chance to do anything, a big gray wolf was heading towards him at full speed.

"No!" Bonnie yelled, pushing Jeremy aside. The next thing she felt was a sharp pain going from her shoulder all the way through her body and the cold floor on her right cheek.

Damon turned around just in time to see the wolf take a running leap towards the window, shattering it, and jumping through.

"Don't, please!" Elena begged, grabbing his hand to stop him from going after the animal.

Elena kneeled next to her brother on the floor, placing Bonnie's hand in her lap, holding it tight.

"Hang on, Bonnie!" she whispered but the witch shook her head.

"It's too late… I can feel… that I won't make it…"

"I could give you blood, it would heal you in no time," Caroline mumbled joining Elena and her brother on the floor.

"Caroline…it's too late. It you give her your blood she would die with it in her system," Damon said placing his right hand on Caroline's shoulder.

"No…Caroline, please! It's alright…" Bonnie murmured.

"Bonnie! Don't… Why didn't you just let it bite me? I would've come back, even if it had killed me," Jeremy yelled.

"No, Jeremy. I figured it out… the message Anna and Vicky were trying to get to you… I figured it out…Your ring… I brought you back to life, so you're now part of the supernatural… which means that the ring, it…" she could barely talk as dark red blood started pooling in the corner of her mouth.

"The ring will no longer work on me..." Jeremy said in a sad voice.

"No… So you have to be careful… Promise me!"

"Bonnie, we… You'll be ok."

"No, Jeremy, please… Promise me you'll be careful and take care of Elena!"

"I promise," Jeremy whispered between sobs.

"Elena…Elena…" Jeremy heard Damon yell behind him. He turned around to see Damon bent over his sister who was lying on the floor, unconscious. When he turned back, the girl in his arms was missing a pulse.

**N**: _I hope you liked it; don't forget to review! _


	14. Chapter 14

**N**: _Surprise; a new chapter on Monday, yay! I just realized that the show will be back soon and I have to finish the story before that happens. Since I still have a lot to deal with, I decided to poste more often; now, I'm not saying I'll poste twice a week every week, but I'll try. Hope you'll enjoy this chapter._

_As always, a big thank you goes to my wonderful beta Valerie (2serendipity) that worked over time on this! _

**Now we're mourning**

Caitlin was pacing around the luxurious living room like a lion in a cage, unable to stay still or find her place. She'd screwed up; she'd let her instincts take over and she'd bitten the girl instead of the boy.

"Dammit!" she shouted, though there was no one to hear it but herself.

She pulled a pack of cigarettes from her pocket and stuck one between her lips. The lighter she used, had a dog engraved on one side and she found the irony amusing.

How was she going to explain her mistake to Stefan…? He would kill her; yes, he most certainly would. She decided that the only 'person' able to help her right now was Klaus, so she reached for the phone and called him.

***season three – off the wagon***

"So that's it then; that's what you're here to tell me, that my ring doesn't work anymore?" Jeremy asked and Anna nodded. "It should've been me anyway," he mumbled and Anna started shaking her head.

"She didn't deserve to die…" he continued and the girl just looked at him. "Can you do something? Bring her back? You're like a ghost, so you see the dead, right?"

Anna took a few steps forward; she stopped right in front of Jeremy and kneeled down beside him. She stretched out her hand and cupped his face. Jeremy felt a warm sensation from the touch and a burning tear fell on his cheek as he covered her hand with his.

Anna let out a loud gasp at the contact. Then she murmured: "It wasn't your time… It was hers. I'm sorry! My job here's done, so you won't be seeing me again, but I want you to know that I love you and that I'll always look after you."

Jeremy looked up at her as soon as she started talking, but her lips weren't moving. He closed his eyes and decided to just enjoy the moment while it lasted. Soon he felt her soft, warm lips over his… they were just like he remembered… When he opened his eyes again, there was nobody there.

***season three – off the wagon***

"Hey," Damon mumbled from the door way, but Elena didn't answer. She was curled by the edge of his enormous bed… She looked like a bird in the middle of the ocean; so alone, so lost… But at the same time, she looked like she belonged there. Her head dropped aside, her eyes stuck on something Damon wasn't able to see. She looked miles away from him, miles away from everyone and for the first time ever, he was sure he'd be able to kill his brother for what he had done.

"I tried to cry, but nothing came out… not a single tear; it's like… they're not there, there's nothing there," she murmured and Damon continued on his way towards her.

"You're in shock; it's normal," he said softly.

"Is it? Or maybe I'm so used to people dying around me that it doesn't affect me anymore. I'm turning into one of those paid assassins that have no feelings when it comes to death and end up in an institution a few years later trying to deal with the pain when it finally comes rushing back," she said absently.

"No, you won't," he said firmly.

"How do you know?" she asked.

"Because I know you," he answered simply.

She was the most caring person he'd ever known in all his 'living' years; and they hadn't been few. Her capacity to forgive and put others before herself was getting to him every time. He couldn't blame her poor mind for blocking, for wanting a break.

"I can't believe Stefan did this…"

"He didn't… I mean, he did, but it's not the Stefan you know… I'm sure Klaus pushed him to do something to prove his loyalty to him. Stefan chose to 'kill' Jeremy because he knew the ring would bring him back."

"Why are you defending him?"

"He didn't have a choice!"

"There's always a choice… _always_," she shouted.

"Klaus would kill him if he thought he was trying to protect you…or anybody else, for that matter. Is that what you want?"

"No…no, no…no, it's not what I want…but Damon, Bonnie is dead and it's Stefan's fault. I can't just forget about that little detail."

"What do you want me to say, Elena? Right now the part of him that loves you is buried deep down inside and unless we find a way to kill Klaus, there's no way we can get close enough to save Stefan from himself. Believe me, I have some experience in that area."

"You mean as a psychopath-killer?"

"Yes…" he answered and Elena regretted her words immediately. "Klaus wanted Stefan and as long as he wants him still, we can't have him back. I'm sure if we do that, he'll kill Stefan, you and everyone that messed with his plan. I know what it's like to have a purpose and to not care about anything or anyone else; I know what it's like to live for one thing and one thing only. You know what makes him so strong and us so weak? I'll tell you what: love… care… emotions. He doesn't care about anything or anyone, which means we can't hurt him."

"That doesn't make us weak… We have each other, we have a home, we have faith… he has nothing. It's easy to get killed when you have nothing worth fighting for."

"Actually, I'm pretty sure that the best soldiers are those that don't care if they live or die, because they give everything in a battle. And you know what? The chances are they will be the last ones standing."

"Well, why don't you stop caring and go fight alone then!"

"I wish it wouldn't have been too late for that…I really do…" he said in a soft voice, sitting beside her on the mattress. He took her hand in his and Elena bit her bottom lip at the contact. "…but it is. Don't worry, we will find a way to defeat Klaus, I promise," he said and tried to get up, but her tight grip stopped him.

"I believe you…" she said softly and squeezed his hand once more before letting go.

***season three – off the wagon***

"Can I come in?" Tyler asked from the doorway and Caroline nodded. Tyler got in and kneeled in front of the blonde vampire, who was sitting by the edge of the bed with her head buried in her hands; her soft cries were breaking his heart. "Caroline…" he whispered, but there was no reaction.

He stood there for a few more minutes, just watching over her before he placed his hand on the floor and tried to push himself up. He immediately felt Caroline's soft, wet hand, holding onto his wrist.

"Tyler…" she murmured between sobs, "…she was…she was my best friend…since we were…really little."

Tyler pulled himself up and took a seat beside her on the bed. He grabbed her hand into his and started drawing small circles on the back of her hand. All he could do was be there for her; and so that's what he would do. He would be there for her, just like she had been there for him.

"And now she's gone… She's gone, Tyler… and she's never coming back… because she's dead!" Caroline mumbled as she turned to face him.

Her mascara had run out, creating a dark circle around each of her eyes; the thing was that…the black color smeared all around was only magnifying the intense turquoise color of her irises. A few strands of hair were caressing her right cheek, like they were trying to cover up the pain that was all over her beautiful face.

Tyler extended his hand and brushed the hair from her face, his fingertips slightly touching her flesh. Her eyes opened wide at the contact and gazed directly into his.

"Hold me!" she whispered; and he gladly obliged. He was happy; he was finally able to do something for her… do something she wanted… something she asked him to do.

He wrapped his arms around her and the next thing he knew, she was holding onto him for dear life. If he wouldn't have been a supernatural being, he was sure she would've cracked a bone or two in his body.

She buried her face into the crook of his neck; she was still crying, sobbing… with every sob she was pulling him closer, holding him tighter.

"Thank you…" she murmured in his ear.

"What for?" he asked.

"For being here, for holding me, for…I just need you right now; don't go away!" she said and he was pretty sure his heart made a backflip in his chest.

"I'm not going anywhere, I promise."

"Good," she said and her hand found his on his chest, her fingers tangling with his as she let out a deep breath.

***season three – off the wagon***

Matt stormed out of the house as soon as he got the call from Alaric. He got in his truck, ignoring his mother's calls, and drove straight to the Boarding House. He still couldn't believe Bonnie was dead… They'd been friends since first grade; since the day he had asked her to pass his Valentine's Day card to Elena. They'd told him she's been killed by another werewolf/vampire last night.

He parked the car right beside Caroline's and practically ran inside, thinking Caroline must be a mess.

"Hey, Matt," Alaric shouted from the living room.

"Where's Caroline?" Matt asked.

"She's upstairs; she spent the night here so I guess you'll find her in the guest bedroom…second door to your left."

"Thanks," he mumbled and rushed up the stairs, taking two stairs at a time.

He was able to hear her soft cries as soon as he got to the top. Just like Alaric told him, she was in the second bedroom on his left…but she wasn't alone…and as soon as he got closer, he recognized Tyler's voice.

He just stood there, in front of the door, watching them. He didn't seem to be able to move or speak…just watch as the girl he loved was finding comfort in his best friend's arms.

***season three – off the wagon***

"I'm not in the mood," Jeremy mumbled, watching Elijah who was standing straight in the doorway like he was waiting for something. "Bonnie's dead…" he said and Elijah give him an apologetic look. "Ok, fine I'll go with you. It's not like I have something better to do."

Jeremy stood up from the oversized armchair and followed Elijah's ghost. He got to the hallway when Damon got out from the kitchen.

"Aren't you on a mission? Where are you off to so…determined?" Damon asked and Jeremy shrugged.

"I'm going for a walk," he answered.

"A walk at three in the morning; sure, because that's what everybody does," Damon said sarcastically. "Come on, kid, just tell me what's wrong before you go ahead and get yourself in trouble again!"

"So what if I get in trouble; you, Elena or someone else will be there to save me and we'll move on to the 'Jeremy's to young to do anything' part."

"I really don't care about your inferiority complex. I care about your sister and I think she's had enough death to deal with over the last few weeks; she doesn't need another one. If something were to happen to you, it will destroy her; is that what you want?" Jeremy shook his head in denial.

"It's Elijah; he wants me to follow him. I think he wants to take me where the originals are hidden; their bodies, I mean."

"We'll go together; just let me get the dog," Damon said and Jeremy raised an eyebrow at him.

"Tyler," Damon said rolling his eyes.

***season three – off the wagon***

"Stefan," she whispered his name.

Stefan let go of the dead girl in his arms…her fragile body crashing to the ground. Her platinum blonde hair made a striking contrast with the dark blanket covering the forest; colourful leaves caressed her face like they were apologizing for her rushed death.

"Elena…" he mumbled looking at the girl standing just a few steps away from him. She looked beautiful; her brown hair was slightly curled, framing her angelic face like a protective curtain. The moonlight was playing in her eyes, making them sparkle. Her perfect lips were curled up in a sexy smirk.

"I finally found you; do you have any idea how heard it was to get to you without having Klaus get to me first?" she asked, taking a step closer.

Stefan took a step back as soon as he realized she wasn't Elena.

***season three – off the wagon***

"Dude, you stepped on my foot," Tyler complained.

"Sorry," Jeremy mumbled. "He stopped in front of that building," he pointed to an old building to their left.

"I know that building; it used to be a carwash until a few years ago when someone from out of town bought it and never did anything with it," Tyler said.

"Good, let's go inside and see what we find," Damon suggested and Jeremy and Tyler followed him inside.

They turned on a weak light and counted four coffins on the left side of the wall and four others on the right.

"I guess we found the family," Damon commented, looking around.

**N**_: Here you go another chapter, hope you liked it. Please take a minute and review, your reviews mean a lot me! _


	15. Chapter 15

**N: **_There's another chapter. I'm super excited about this one and I really hope you guys will like it. The only way you can let me know if you did, or didn't, is to leave a review, so please do that!_

_Thank you to my beta Valerie (2serendipity) for her amazing work!_

**Old friends and new enemies**

Elena woke up screaming; she literally jumped out of bed and turned on the lights. She looked around; she was in Damon's room, that much she could tell. Her heart was beating a million miles per minute and her hands were shaking. All she was able to remember from that dream was the fear…but fear of what?

She made her way towards the bathroom and splashed her face with cold water. The knock on the door made her gasp and take a step backwards.

"Elena…are you ok? I heard you scream…"

"Adney? Is that you?" she asked, surprised. She was expecting Damon to be the one checking up on her, or maybe Jeremy.

"Yes, it's me. May I come in?"

"Yes, yes…"

Elena got back into the room just in time to watch Adney closing the door behind him. Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around her body as if she was cold.

"What happened? Bad dream?"

"Yes, I think. I don't remember what the dream was about…I just remember that it was scary. I was so scared and lost…"

"Do you… Can I do anything?" Adney asked.

"Have you seen Damon?"

"No, not since the girl…Bonnie…passed…" he mumbled in a weak voice. "I know the blond guy…"

"Matt?" Elena interrupted.

"Yes; he left with Caroline. She needed a ride home, that's all I know. From what I can hear, there's no one home besides you and me," he said and Elena was seriously wondering where everybody had gone, because the last time she'd checked, the house had been full.

"Thank you, Adney, I'll be ok. I'll get some tea and read until they get back. If you…"

"If I see Damon, I will tell him to join you," he continued.

"Yes, thank you."

***season three – off the wagon***

Half an hour after her talk with Adney, Elena was sitting in Damon's bed, with a steaming cup of green tea in her left hand and another one of Elisaveta's journals in her right one. She decided to jump a few journals; to be honest, she was dying to know if Elisaveta and Elijah…well, she wanted to know if he stood a chance. She wasn't ready to admit, but she was kind of comparing Elisaveta and Elijah with her and Damon.

_I was standing in the middle of the room, staring at my own reflection in the oversized mirror on the wall, preparing myself for another day. I chose a pair of tear-shaped earrings…they were my favourites._

"_Am I interrupting?" he asked from the doorway. I didn't have to turn around to know it was Elijah. I recognized his voice immediately. _

"_No," I answered simply as I was trying to put my necklace on._

_Elijah took a few steps towards me and I could now see him in the mirror; his playful, brown eyes searching mine…the way he looked at me, like a predator, like a jeweller that just found a really rare diamond…he looked at me in so many different ways._

_He stepped behind me and placed his hands on my shoulders._

"_Let me!" he murmured and I let go of the chain, allowing his fingers to take control over it. It took him less than five seconds to put it on._

_He let his right hand slide on my arm, his fingertips brushing over my flesh and my body shivered in response. His touch, his smile, his voice, his scent…they always had the ability to make me feel things I definitely shouldn't._

_His arms finally curled around my waist and he pulled me closer to him; my back was now moulded against his chest._

_Using his other hand, he brushed my hair aside and pressed his lips on the back of my neck. His lips burned my flesh… they were smooth and moist._

"_You are beautiful…so beautiful…" he whispered in my ear, his warm breath caressing my skin, sending chills down my spine. _

"_You…shouldn't do that… You shouldn't touch me like that…" I mumbled, barely managing to make sense of my words._

"_Then stop me!" he said…and I wanted to scream, to tell him to stop, to push him away; at least a part of me did, but another part…the irrational part, wanted him to touch me and never stop._

"_You shouldn't…" I mumbled again._

"_You're my brother's woman; you don't think I know that? I know it's wrong, but I can't stop; I can't stop thinking about you, I can't stay away from you. If I can't see you, I can't breathe…a simple smile from you is enough to bring me happiness…and when you look at me…the way you look at me…"_

"_Elijah…please!" I don't really know what I was begging him to do…to stop, or to go on…but I needed something…something that I could never have…I needed him. "We can't…"_

"_Why not?"_

"_Why not? Because I'm Klaus's wife…I'm his… I will always be his…"_

"_Is that so?"_

_I let out a gasp as he grabbed my arm, turning me around, forcing me to face him. He started kissing my cheek, my jawline…and his hand pressed in the small of my back, pulling me against him. His leg found its way between mine somehow. Everything was giving me sensations that were making me blush._

"_Your body says otherwise…your body says that you belong to me."_

"_Don't you get it? The girl always ends up with the good guy."_

"_I can be the good guy," he said._

"_Good guys stick around, Elijah…" I retorted in a sad voice. "What happened between us can never happen again."_

"_What happened between us was passion…you gave yourself to me, so completely…your body ached for my touch, your heart beat in time with my own, your mouth chanted my name. You're telling me to just forget about that?"_

"_Yes, I do."_

"_I can't!" he shouted, "and neither can you!" With those words his lips captured mine, his hand cupped my face, his fingers tangled in my hair and my arms wrapped around his neck. He was right, I would never forget that night…how it felt to be with him, to have him murmur shameless nothings in my ear, to have his mouth kiss every inch of my body…he'd done things to me that Klaus never had…and probably never would._

Elena closed the notebook and placed it next to her on the bed. She took a deep breath, then another…in a failed attempt to calm down her heartbeat. '_that can't be me and Damon; ok, there are some similarities between us and the couple in the journal, that doesn't mean anything, right?' _Elena told herself.

She decided she needed a cold soda and made her way towards the kitchen.

***season three – off the wagon***

"What's wrong, Stefan? Don't tell me you're afraid of little old me?" Katherine asked with a smirk.

"Katherine…what are you…how did you…?"

"How did I find you? You've got to be kidding me; you left a pile of dead bodies behind. The tricky part was finding you without finding Klaus as well, but I did."

"Why are you here?" Stefan asked, taking a few cautious steps towards her.

"I've missed you…" she purred, taking a step backwards.

"Really, why are you here?" Stefan asked again.

"I have a proposition for you," she murmured close to his ear. She let her fingertips wander his face, his neck, his chest….

***season three – off the wagon***

"Jeremy, Tyler, you two stay here with our 'guests', while I go find Elena," Damon said as they got inside the Boarding House. "Jeremy, you know where the fridge is in the basement, right? "The boy nodded, "Go get some blood bags; I can't afford them chewing on you or your sister."

"Do you know were Elena is?" Tyler asked.

"She's in the kitchen; I can hear her breathing…"

"Have I mentioned how much I envy this super hearing of yours? Why didn't _I_ get that?"

"I'm sure you've got other nifty features."

"Such as?"

"Hm…you've got fur?" Damon said and before Tyler could reply anything, Damon had vanished.

***season three – off the wagon***

"Hey," Damon murmured as he walked up behind Elena. She jumped backwards, her back hitting his chest. "Wow there! It's just me."

"Damon…you scared me," Elena mumbled, turning around and putting some distance between them. Damon touched her arm slightly and Elena jumped backwards like his touch had burned her. "Where have you been?"

"I escorted Jeremy on a ghost hunt; are you alright?" he said and once he saw the confused expression on her face, he decided to continue. "You remember when Jeremy said he was seeing ghosts, well, vampire ghosts?" he asked and Elena nodded. "Well, turns out he was seeing Elijah's ghost as well and he decided to follow him, thinking he'd bring him to where Klaus had been hiding the other originals."

"By himself? Did he find… Did you go with him?"

"Yes, I did…and yes, we found them."

"Well, that's good, I guess… So where are they?"

"In the living room."

"Wh-what? Damon, you don't know if they will help us. For all we know they could just kill us and run off. How could you be so…? Do ever think before doing something? God, you're so…! Damon, we can't afford to be reckless…"

"I think the ones that don't want to help are already gone," Damon said softly.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we pulled the daggers out of all of them. I used the guards to feed them," Elena's eyes opened wide. "Elena, we weren't prepared to actually find them and we couldn't afford to lose more time, so we used what we had. Anyway, some of them just took off…"

"But the mother…the mother, we need…without her we can't find the missing journal," Elena shouted.

"The mother stayed, along with the father, the big brother, Elijah and his twin sister," Damon said and Elena went speechless for a moment.

"Oh… ok, that's good. So they want to help?"

"I guess; Elijah, Jeremy and Tyler are explaining things…you know, about how Klaus went all psycho and all."

***season three – off the wagon***

In the next half hour Elena met Ophelia, the mother, Neo, the father, Alexander the elder brother and Tatiana, the twin sister. They all seemed to have taken after their mother: brown hair, dark chocolate eyes…everyone except Tatiana, she had her father's emerald green eyes that had a playful spark in them, especially when she looked at Damon.

"You're weak you should rest," Elijah said, and he stood up from the couch where he'd been sitting next to his mother. "I'll take them to a hotel," he continued, looking at Damon.

"No need. There are enough rooms in this house, though you'll have to excuse the dust, since it's been a while since some of them have been used," Damon said and when Elijah tried to protest, he raised a hand to make him stop.

"What's going on?" Adney asked from the top of the stairs, making his way down.

"Adney, you should be here for this!" Damon said with a smile and Elena thought he was enjoying the awkward moment way too much. "Adney, meet Ophelia and Neo, your grandparents; Ophelia, Neo, meet your grandson."

The couple stood up from the couch immediately and Ophelia's eyes watered as she covered her mouth with her hand.

"You're him… You're my brother's son… Elisaveta's son?" Elijah asked, but got no answer. The question seemed rhetorical for some reason.

"Oh, God!" Ophelia murmured.

"Yes…I'm the one that will kill your son," Adney said, his eyes fixed on his long-deceased grandmother.

**N**:_ I really hope you like the way I handled the Originals. I just couldn't deal with all of them…way too long. Don't worry you'll find out how they've became vampires in the next two or three chapters._

_Next update on Sunday or Monday, it only depends on your reviews. _


	16. Chapter 16

**N: **_Hey guys, I'm a bit disappointed…I haven't got that many reviews lately; and here I thought the story was getting more interesting…lol. So, even if the response wasn't great, I decided to post, I need to poste more often in order to finish the story before season three comes out on TV._

_I hope this chapter will inspire your reviews more than the previous one. Enjoy!_

_As always, thank you Valerie (2serendipity) for beta-reading this!_

**Let's get this straight!**

Elena was still in the living room when Elijah came back from helping his family settle in.

"Can I have a word with you?" he asked. Elena looked in Damon's direction and nodded slightly, letting him know she did indeed want to talk to Elijah 'in private'. Damon gave her a weak smile and returned to the kitchen.

"I get why you did what you did and let Klaus live, but that doesn't mean I find what you did less disrespectful. You chose the easy way out; something I never thought you'd do. I trusted you when everyone warned me not to and you betrayed my trust and the people that put their faith in you. You mocked my aunt's death and everyone else's that died because you chose to spare Klaus. Just so we get this straight, I don't trust you or want to trust you ever again, so save the _'I will do anything to regain your trust'_ speech!"

"I'm sorry…for your aunt's death, for the other deaths and for what happened with Stefan, but I am here to help. I've got my family back and I can't thank you all enough for that, so until further notice, I'm indebted to you."

"Glad you got your priorities straight. Now, I did it before and I assure I _will_ put that dagger back in your heart if any harm comes to the people I love because of you…even if it's indirectly."

Elena left the room before Elijah had the chance to say anything more. She went straight into Stefan's room and jumped into the shower.

***season three – off the wagon***

Tatiana finally found the kitchen after she'd mistakenly walked into a few other rooms first. She felt a bit embarrassed for being lost; she used to have such a great sense of direction, even as a kid… even as a _human_. She turned on the water and looked for a glass. She'd just opened the right cabinet when she sensed another presence in the room with her.

She turned around, almost knocking someone over.

"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" she mumbled. As she pulled herself together, she realized that the person she'd walked into was Damon. "I'm still a bit off, I guess… It's quite strange, really. I'm thirsty, I'm hungry, I'm cold, I'm hot… It's all so confusing, just like when I first turned."

"Well, you've been kind of dead for…"

"800 years," she whispered.

"Oh…well, that's a lot. So… just give yourself some time to adjust," he said and she smiled weakly.

"Everything's so different…"

"Yeah, well, things tend to change in 800 years."

"Well… Thanks for the pep talk. I think I'll go back to bed now."

"What were you looking for?"

"Water," she mumbled showing him the glass she had just gotten out of the cabinet right before he got into the kitchen.

"Here," Damon said, taking the glass out of her hands and filling it with water. He gave the glass back to her and she grabbed it with both hands, guzzling it down in a few seconds.

"Thanks," she said, giving him the empty glass.

"Do you want to take a bottle of water with you?" Damon asked and she nodded.

He walked over and opened the fridge, taking a bottle of water out. He didn't think Elena would mind if he would give Tatiana one of her water bottles.

"This way you won't have to come back here tonight," he said handing her the bottle.

"That will be great, since it took me nearly ten minutes just to find the kitchen."

They both smiled and she ran upstairs, leaving Damon alone in the kitchen.

***season three – off the wagon***

"Is there something on your mind?" Klaus asked.

"What? Do you honestly want to play shrink with me now?" Stefan shouted, getting up from the chair and slowly making his way towards the door.

"I just feel like you have something on your mind and it bothers you. Talk to me…think of me as a…well, a friend."

"Friend? You forced me to come with you in order to get the cure for my brother so he won't die of a werewolf bite…"

"And I'm sure he's very grateful for that…"

"Let's get one thing straight, I'm _not_ nor will I _ever_ be your friend. We won't bond or share our pain; we won't pretend we like each other and most definitely, we won't talk about Damon or Elena or anyone in Mystic Falls, for that matter. We are going to pretend they never existed; good? Okay, glad we had this talk," and with that he left the room.

Klaus looked after him with a big smile on his face. _'like they never existed' _he mumbled to himself. _'you should be careful what you wish for kid; did anybody ever tell you that your wish might just come true?'_

***season three – off the wagon***

"Hey," Matt mumbled as Caroline got in the car. "Your car's still at the garage?"

"Yeah… they finished it today, that's why I needed a ride to go pick it up," she whispered. "Tyler was supposed to pick me up, but apparently something came up at the Boarding House."

"Oh…Caroline…do you…I mean…are you with Tyler now? Because if you are, I'm ok with it…I guess; or at least I will be," Matt said and Caroline smiled sadly.

"To be honest I haven't had much time to think about that. He…he's been there…"

"I know; he's been there when I decided not to be. I told Tyler I wasn't ready to watch you move on with him. I'm probably not… but if you want to be with him, you should."

"Thank you… for giving me your blessing, but my priority right now is to kill Klaus and save Stefan."

"Yeah, of course; the guy that tried to kill you and Tyler, right?"

"Yes, that would be the one."

"I know I said I don't want to be part of 'your world' but if there's anything I can do…"

"Thank you, I will."

***season three – off the wagon***

_Betty…her name was Betty; the woman that helped me gave birth. The pain of going through labour was horrible, but the pain I already had inside was worse. As soon as Klaus and his family found out about my infidelity with Elijah, they banished me from the grounds; all alone and pregnant. _

Elena closed the journal and caught her head between her hands. Reading these 'stories' was confusing her instead of making anything clear. She just wished Elisaveta was there to explain it to her. A few seconds later there was a knock on the door and Elena smiled weakly.

"Come in!" she shouted.

"Am I disturbing you?" Adney asked.

"Not at all; actually I was about to go look for you," Elena answered, getting up from the bed and grabbing the journal from the table. "This is all so confusing. I don't get it…who sacrificed her?"

"My mother, you mean?"

"Yes."

"No one sacrificed her," he answered and Elena looked at him confused. "She sacrificed herself…" he continued and she opened her eyes wide.

"How?"

"Well, my mother was a very powerful witch; she was sent by The Order of Magus… Magus means warlock in Latin. Supposedly they were a secret society of witches and warlocks, brought together by one of the gods to protect the earth. They say one of them betrayed them…"

"Let me guess, the most powerful one?" Elena said letting her head fall aside.

"Yes…they say she conjured death and death made a deal with Ophelia and that's how the Originals became vampires. I'm poor on the details, but that's the story. They were very powerful, but not above death, so they couldn't kill them all, but one of the witches saw ahead, saw the future, I mean; she saw that one member of the family would become different, more powerful, too powerful, so they decided that he should be killed before he could turn. That's why they sent my mother: her job was to kill Klaus, but she fell in love with him."

"Oh…"

"In her defence…and I guess you noticed it, he was a great man as a human. She created a curse instead…a curse that she placed on Klaus in order to save his life…more like after-life actually. In order to seal the curse she needed the blood of a human that would willingly bleed to death, as a sacrifice to save Klaus…"

"So she sacrificed herself…" Elena mumbled, realizing Elisaveta's plan. "But why did she create the doppelganger? I mean…she seemed to _not_ want for Klaus to ever break the curse, so why leave a way to break it?"

"She didn't plan on creating the doppelganger… Irene, the witch that betrayed The Order, found out about my mother's plan and she found way to mess with my mother's spell. She was too late to stop it, but she created a way out. A copy of my mother would be born every 500 years. To make sure the girl wouldn't grow into a witch so she'd be able to defend herself, she cursed my mother's bloodline so no child born will ever have the gift of magic."

"That sounds so cruel…what happened to the bad witch?"

"She was finally stopped by the Order. A few years after, when the whole family became vampires, Eleanor, Magus's daughter forged the daggers I told you about…"

"And she died performing the spell, yeah, you did," Elena interrupted.

"Yes, she did, she was the leader of The Order of Magus. With her gone, they all spread in different directions and that was the end of The Order."

"I wonder what kind of deal Ophelia made with…death…" Elena mumbled as Adney was making his way towards the door.

"Well, you could ask her," he said before getting out of the room, leaving Elena alone.

**N: **_This is it guys, another chapter. I hope the Adney's explanations were clear; if you have any question at all, please feel free to ask, I promise to answer them! _

_Don't forget to review; your words mean a lot to me! _


	17. Chapter 17

**N**_: So, there's another chapter for you guys, I really hope you'll enjoy our jealous Elena. _

_There's someone that asked for a Damon/Jeremy time and I added it just for her (she knows how she is). I really hope you'll like it!_

_Don't forget that your reviews inspire me, so please do take a minute and leave one!_

_Special thanks to __bibby180 for beta-reading this!_

**There's something about you**

"Where are you going?" Elena asked Damon, who stopped just a few steps in front of the door. He turned around and Elena could see the car keys in his hand.

"I'm teaching Tatiana how to drive," he said and Elena raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow at him. She understood why he invited them to stay at the Boarding house, to keep an eye on them and gather as much information as possible, but did he _really_ have to spend so much time with 'Tatiana'?

It turned out that Ophelia had the journal, but not with her, so she and Elijah went off to Europe to retrieve the missing piece of the puzzle. Alexander and his father went off to look for another witch and Tatiana had conveniently chosen to stay here and learn all about the 21st century.

"Elijah could do it when he comes back," Elena said making a weird gesture with her hand.

"It's ok, I don't mind. She's not the worst company in the world…" he returned and Elena felt the sudden urge to slap him; those words were reserved for her. "Do you need me for something?" he asked.

"Yes," Elena answered quickly.

"Well…what for?"

"Hmm… I… " Elena started, looking away, afraid that if she looked at him, he'll know she was lying. "…laundry!" she practically yelled, "there's so much of it; I need you to help me take the baskets down to the laundry room."

Before she had time to say anything else, he disappeared. He got back in about three minutes and told her the laundry was in the room, waiting for her.

"Anything else?" he asked and Elena tried to think of something else to give him to do, something that will take him longer than two minutes. "Well, I'll go then, Tatiana's waiting for me outside. If you think of anything else, I'm sure Blondie will be more than happy to help you. She'll be here in an hour or so." And with that said, he left, leaving Elena alone in the hallway.

***season three – off the wagon***

"Stop laughing, Caroline!" Tyler shouted.

"Maybe you're trying too hard," Caroline said closing the distance between them.

Tyler caught her hands and pushed her against the nearest three. He buried his face in her hair and growled against her ear, pulling a stake from his pocket as his left hand was still holding hers over her head. Caroline broke free from his grip and tried pushing him away from her, but Tyler placed his elbow in her throat, keeping her steady long enough to direct the pointy stake towards her heart, stopping just an inch away from her chest.

"See, I'm ready to take on a vampire," Tyler said proudly.

Caroline hit his right hand making the stake fly a few meters away from them and pushed him on the ground, covering his body with hers.

"And a single carless moment and you're dead," she said letting go of his arms. "This is not a game Tyler…as long as it's not a full moon, a vampire has every advantage. Don't believe you're in control, you're never in control and if you ever find an opening, never…_ ever _hesitate, go for the kill, or you'll be the one left dead in the end, got it?"

"Yes I got it…you don't have to yell at me," Tyler protested.

"I just…I don't want you to get hurt," she whispered and Tyler wrapped his arms around her slowly. He was still afraid she'll push him away, shot him down and tell him he doesn't stand a chance. "Promise me you won't take unnecessary risks; promise me you'll be careful!" She demanded. Her hand cupped his face…cold soft fingertips brushing over his cheeks and Tyler was sure no one has ever looked at him the way she was looking at him now. "Promise me!" she whispered again.

"I promise," he returned and she smiled weakly.

Caroline lowered her head slowly, her hair falling around Tyler's face like waves of gold. Her lips brushed slightly over his, making him close his eyes and raise his hand on her back, her shoulder, her neck and finally her face, burring his fingers in her smooth hair. He pulled her closer, crushing her lips with his own and she let out a soft guttural moan.

***season three – off the wagon***

"See, it's not that hard," Damon said and Tatiana smiled, watching him from the corner of her eyes. "Now, I would say 'slow down or you'll get us both killed' but…"

"We're kind of already dead," she continued.

"Yeah…kind of…do you feel like you could turn around and take us back to the Boarding House?" he asked.

"Yes, I have a very good photographic memory," she answered confident.

Twenty minutes later Tatiana was parking the car, or at least trying to.

"Just leave it like that, I'll get it inside the garage later!" he said.

"Sorry, it's just…you make it look so easy, but it's not," she said and he smiled.

"Well, I have been doing this for a long, long time, so…I've had practice."

"True; thank you, it was fun!" she said and before Damon got the chance to react, her lips were on his. She bit his bottom lip softly and he found himself pulling her over him into a full on make out session in the front seat of his car.

It had been so long since he had a woman. Since the little incident with Andie he decided it was better to stay away from her and women in general. Who was he kidding? He was Damon Salvatore, he used to have a woman in his bed in the morning, another at lunch and two more at night…but then again, since _she_ came along, no number of women seemed to satisfy him.

He pulled away, expecting Tatiana to ask him what was wrong or something like that, but instead she winked at him and told him they should do it again soon. She got out of the car and in a few seconds she was by the door. He joined her and they both went inside.

Elena got out of the kitchen as soon as the door closed behind them.

"Hey…you're finally back. How was it?" she asked.

"It was _amazing_!" Tatiana mumbled, brushing the tip of her fingers over her lips, her eyes flew in Damon direction and she smiled like she knew a dirty secret that was going to make her rich.

Elena's eyes went from Tatiana to Damon a few times before she finally realized what happened. She took a step back and told them she had to finish the food and practically ran back to the kitchen.

***season three – off the wagon***

"Believe me, that doesn't help," Damon said walking towards Jeremy. He took the glass from his hand and placed it on the table.

"Then what does?" Jeremy asked.

"Right now? Nothing…nothing works, but it will get better."

"Really…I'll forget how I feel about her?" Jeremy fired back in a sarcastic tone Damon didn't know he had.

"No, you won't, but you'll learn to leave with it, without going through the hell of losing her every day. You should know that by now. Don't worry, we'll find whatever did this to her…I promise."

"And then what?"

"Then I kill it."

"Would that make me feel better?" Jeremy asked in a sad voice.

"Yeah, for about five minutes; after those five minutes, the adrenaline will rush off and you'll realize she's still gone and you still miss her."

"Can you really turn it off? As a vampire I mean" Jeremy asked, for the first time since their conversation, he was looking at Damon.

"Yes, you can, but it's deceiving, it doesn't last. You think you got it all figured out; turn off your emotions…the hurt, the emptiness…but also love and compassion. When you turn it off, you have to turn them all off and believe me you don't want an eternity of feeling nothing. Sooner or later you're going to have to let it all in, and in case no one told you this before, everything you feel as a vampire its magnified. Letting all those emotions wash over you after you've spent years without feeling them…can be…overwhelming."

"Thanks…I think I'm going to stay human for a while," Jeremy said smiling weakly and Damon nodded.

***season three – off the wagon***

"I don't get it…what does he see in her?" Elena mumbled as she was cutting the bread.

"Who?" Caroline asked from the door way. The blonde vampire made her way towards the stove. She bended over the still steaming pot and took a deep breath. "It smells good."

"Tatiana…everyone thinks she's so charming…" Elena answered, her gaze still fixated on the bread she was clearly enjoying cutting.

"Oh…she's kind of cool," Caroline said and Elena stooped and turned around, giving Caroline a cold stare. "_Kind of_…"

"She's so…bold…"

"Bold? Well yeah, of course she is, she's an original."

"I know, but does she really need to treat us all like children?"

"Did she say something to you?"

"Well…not really…no she didn't…"

"I don't get it Elena…"

"Do you think she's beautiful?"

"Who?" Jeremy asked entering the room.

"Tatiana," Caroline answered.

"Oh…she's hot…those green eyes and all that cool vampire strength," Jeremy mumbled, picking up a few olives from a bowl. "Why, do you have a crush on her? 'Coz I think she has a thing for Damon."

"I was just asking," Elena said smiling, and she turned her attention back to the bread.

Jeremy shrugged his shoulders and got out of the kitchen.

"That it; it bothers you that she's all over Damon, doesn't it?" Caroline asked, her eyes open wide and her lips curled up into a grimace.

"What? No, of course not; that's ridiculous," Elena shouted.

"I get it, you know. He's this hot dangerous guy that was all over you…everything about him was floating around you and now it's not all about you anymore…I get it."

"You're wrong," Elena fired.

"Am I?"

"Why won't you two ladies explain the problem to me and I'll decide who's wrong?" Damon asked as he nonchalantly placed himself in the door way.

"What do you think…"

"Caroline!" Elena yelled before the vampire got to finish.

"…of Tatiana?" Caroline continued despite the warnings in Elena's eyes.

"She's…she has fire; quick learner, great sense of direction…"

"That's normal, she's a vampire," Elena commented and Damon raised an eyebrow at her.

"You don't like her? You think she'll betray us?"

"No, I don't think she will betray us…its just…"

"Yeah…just?" Damon pushed.

"Never mind; help me take these in the living room!"

***season three – off the wagon***

"You don't have the right, you know," Jeremy said entering the kitchen as Elena was placing the dishes in the washing machine.

"What are you talking about?" Elena asked turning to face her brother.

"You, being jealous of Tatiana because she likes Damon…"

"I'm not; I'm not jealous because she likes Damon, a lot of girls like Damon."

"Then you're jealous because he likes her too…"

"Does he? I mean, did he tell you that?"

"No, but it's obvious; since he brought her here he's been spending a lot of time with her. If you're ready to give him a chance, tell him; if not…just let him go and back off!" Jeremy said getting out from the room.

Elena took a few steps backwards and let herself fall into a chair beside the table, covering her face with her hands. _'What's wrong with me?'_ she asked herself. She shouldn't care what Damon does or who Damon likes, but she did.

"Is it true; are you jealous, Elena?"

"Damon…" she mumbled jumping up from her seat.

**N**: _That was it, a nice (kind of long) chapter for you…I guess you realize we're getting closer and closer to the imminent end. _

_Don't forget to review! _


	18. Chapter 18

**N: **_I know I said I want to finish this before season three starts, but I probably won't…it will take me another week or so, I hope you don't mind and you'll still read it. If you got this far, you might as well stay with me until the end. I approximated around 4 or 5 other chapters until the end._

_I hope you'll like this chapter, it's a big deal for me, so please take a minute and let me know what you think of it, it would really mean a lot to me!_

_Thank you __bibby180 for beta-reading this chapter, you've been a big help!_

**Feel the feeling all by yourself!**

"N-no, I'm not jealous," Elena answered making her way towards the sink.

"Hmmm, really?" he asked. In a moment, he was behind her and Elena felt trapped. He curled an arm around her waist, pulling her close to him. "She kissed me…" he whispered in her ear, letting the tip of his fingers caress her bottom lip. Her hair was caught in a ponytail and she could feel his warm breath on her flesh, making her shiver slightly. "She touched me…in a way you…can't…" he continued; his fingers slipping on her neck, her shoulder and down her arm.

"Damon please…" she begged in a weak voice. His hand found hers and he raised it to his mouth. He placed a kiss in the middle of her palm then another one on her thumb…then another on her wrist and Elena could feel her body melting every time his soft lips came in contact with her skin.

"So, you're not jealous?" he asked again.

"No…" she answered.

"Well, that's good, since we're going out," he said letting go of her hand. Before Elena got the chance to react, he was gone.

She placed her hands on each side of the sink and took a few deep breaths. She could still feel his body pressed against hers…she could still feel his arm around her waist…she could still feel his hand on her abs…and his fingers on her skin…everywhere…and it burned. She wanted to scream, but she knew she couldn't…not without them hearing her.

***season three – off the wagon***

Damon walked straight to the liquor cabinet and poured himself a generous portion of bourbon. He wanted to make her feel…make her feel what he felt, even for just a minute. To want something you can't have so bad that it hurts. But again, he failed and now he was the one with a dirty conscience, _'when the hell did that happen?' _he asked himself. Things were a lot easier when he didn't give a damn.

He changed…_she_ changed him and now he was stuck with these feelings and this bump in his pants. Nothing he could do about the feelings, but he'll most definitely do something about his sexual frustration.

An hour and a half later he was in his room…Tatiana was caught between him and the wall, gasping and moaning his name. He took off her t-shirt, leaving her only in her bra.

"Hmm…red…" he mumbled.

"The…the color of…passion…" she returned with a smile. She started unbuttoning his shirt, kissing her way down his chest, his abs….

"If you stop doing that for a second I think I can get you in bed," Damon said.

"Why bother?" she asked and in a split second she had him on the floor.

***season three – off the wagon***

Katherine raised her hand and softly caressed the girl's cheek. The girl closed her eyes, letting out a short gasp.

"What's your name sweetie?" Katherine asked.

"Mandy…" the girl answered in a weak voice.

"Mandy…" Katherine repeated. "Are you afraid, _Mandy_?"

The girl nodded and a big tear escaped her right eye, slipping on her cheek and finally dying on her chin. She opened her eyes again and looked at Katherine. Her baby blue eyes were wet and sparkly.

"Why? What do you think I'm going to do to you?" the vampire asked patting the girls' head. Mandy's strawberry blonde hair was smoothly falling over her shoulders and Katherine pushed it on her back, reviling her long, lean neck.

"I…I don't…I don't know…" the girl mumbled.

"It's nothing personal…it's a favour actually. We can't let him get caught now can we?"

"What?" the girl asked confused.

"I'm going to taste you…" Katherine murmured and let the tip of her tongue go from the base of Mandy's neck all the way to her ear. "Then I'm going to drink your blood …" she continued, letting her fangs caress the girl's skin. "…drop by drop, until you'll be dead," with that, Katherine let her pointy teeth extend into her flesh.

***season three – off the wagon***

Elena was twisting and twirling in Stefan's bed. She woke up gasping; her heart beating a million miles a minute, and before she had the chance to breathe properly, a cold hand covered her mouth.

"Shhh!" a familiar voice whispered. She looked up and she saw _him_…for a moment there, she thought she was still asleep and dreaming. "Not a word," he continued as he took his hand away from her mouth. One word reading on her lips 'Stefan'.

"Nobody knows I'm here and nobody needs to know I was here, do you understand?" he asked and Elena nodded. Her eyes were now wet and sparkly, the first round of tears going down her cheeks.

"Stefan…" she whispered, "…why?" she asked and Stefan looked at her like he was asking what was she talking about. "You…you killed her…my…my best friend…"

"I didn't mean for that to happen, Elena," he said casually, like his mistake didn't just take a human life. "I've sent the hybrid for Jeremy…"

"So you wanted to kill my _brother_, but instead you killed my _best_ _friend_…are you hearing yourself right now?" Elena asked pushing herself into a sitting position.

"But…he would've come back to life…" Stefan mumbled.

"No…the ring doesn't work anymore. He died, Liz shot him, Bonnie brought him back to life and since then, the ring doesn't work anymore. Bonnie knew that and she protected him…" Elena said in an angry tone.

"Elena, listen to me! I don't have much time…" he didn't get to finish his sentence as Elena's palm found his right cheek.

"How dare you come in here and tell me to listen to you? You are the reason my best friend's dead…get out!" she shouted, but Stefan caught her hands and held her steady by the edge of the bed.

"Klaus thinks I'm in a small village outside Boston…"

"You really think he won't figure it out, that you weren't there?"

"No, because there will be dead bodies. Katherine's taking care of it…"

"Oh…so you and Katherine are a team now? That's very nice…"

"She knew there's no chance I can get Klaus of my back long enough to come and see you otherwise, so she offered to do the killing for me. Listen, if I stop killing, if he figures out I was here, we will all be dead. He needs to believe I'm on his side, Elena…but I'm not, it's just an act…"

"Is it? I'm under the impression that this 'act' is becoming who you are…" Elena said in a weak voice.

"No…it's…you don't understand…"

"I don't want to understand…please, just go!" she said, trying to get up from the bed, but Stefan placed his hands on her shoulders, keeping her in place. "Let go, Stefan!"

"I'm here to tell you where to find Elijah and the others…"

"I already know…Stefan, let go, you're hurting me!"

Stefan lowered his head and looked directly into her eyes.

"I will let you go and you will not try to run, or scream," he said and Elena's eyes opened wide.

"Are you really trying to compel me?" Elena asked surprised. A few seconds later Stefan noticed the delicate chain around her neck. "Let me go, Stefan or I will scream and this house is full of vampires way older and stronger than you, they will hurt you…I won't tell anyone you came, just go!"

"I will come back…" he said and in the blink of an eye, he was gone like he had never been there.

Elena finally started breathing again. She let her still shaking body fall back on the bed; her soft cries shortly became violent sobs. Her arms curled around a pillow, holding it tight; she buried her face in it, to make sure no one will hear her.

***season three – off the wagon***

"You…are really good at this…" Tatiana murmured gasping and Damon smirked.

"I know," he said as his fingers were slowly going up and down her arm. He lifted the cover just enough for his hand to slip inside.

Tatiana closed her eyes and her fingers clenched around her pillow; she let out a soft moan and Damon smiled at her.

"I'm going to take a shower," Damon said and Tatiana raised an eyebrow at him.

"And you're going to leave me like this?" she asked pounding.

"I'll take care of it later, I promise," he said. He kissed her and disappeared into the bathroom, before she had the chance to reply.

"Damon!" Tatiana heard someone yell from the doorway. She turned around in time to see Elena walk inside the room.

"Hey!" Tatiana said with a smile and Elena took a step back, looking around uncomfortable.

"I…I'm sorry…I'm just…Damon?" Elena mumbled.

"In the bathroom," Tatiana answered, pointing in the direction Damon had disappeared a minute ago.

"Oh, ok…would you..."

"I'll let him know you're looking for him," Tatiana assured her.

"Thanks," Elena threw over her shoulder as she practically ran back into Stefan's room.

Ten minutes later, Damon came out of the bathroom, wearing nothing more than a fluffy white towel around his waist.

"Hmmm…" Tatiana moaned, looking at him from head to toe. "Elena came looking for you," she said and Damon raised an eyebrow at her. "You should've seen the look on her face when she saw me…her eyes were about to pop out of her head. She hates me."

"What? Why would she hate you?" Damon asked while he was putting on a pair of dark jeans.

"Oh, please don't tell me you haven't noticed?" she asked, but when she saw the confused expression on Damon's face, she continued. "The girl has a thing for you…but she's not supposed to, because…well, because she's with your brother, but she can't stop it, so she kind of hates every girl that has the right to feel for you…in a way she's not supposed to…"

"You're imagining things, she loves my brother," Damon said picking up a shirt from his closet.

"I didn't say she doesn't…my God, you can't seriously tell me you haven't noticed? The way she looks at you…the way she says your name…she looks out for you…"

"You're wrong," Damon said getting out of the room. He let a few buttons of his shirt unbuttoned, because he felt like he couldn't breathe…even if theoretically, he didn't need to.

***season three – off the wagon***

He didn't knock; he opened the door and let it close with a 'bang' behind him. Elena was standing in front of the window and she jumped at the noise. She turned around and for a moment none of them were saying anything.

"Damon…I..." Elena started, but Damon didn't allow her to finish. In a heartbeat he was in front of her. He placed his hands on each side of her body, shaking her slightly.

"They're delusional…I need you to tell me they're wrong!" he said and Elena looked at him confused.

"What?" she murmured.

"It's still Stefan and only Stefan…right?" he asked and Elena looked down for a second, then back at him, but didn't say a word. She had a feeling he wasn't done yet. "Tell me they're wrong, Elena! Tell me that it's Stefan and it will always be Stefan! Tell me that you don't have a special way to look at me or a special way to say my name! Tell me you feel nothing more than compassion and friendship for me! Tell me they're all imagining things…tell me _I'm_ imagining things!" Damon shouted.

With every phrase, Elena was taking a step back and now her back was pressed against the wall…and he was so close to her. She could smell his cologne; she could feel his cold breath tingling her skin.

"I…" she started, but somehow the words weren't coming out.

"Tell me, you feel nothing for me, that it would never be me!"

"I… I can't…" she whispered as a hot tear escaped her eye, rolling down her cheek, and Damon thought that the sparkly tear was making her look even more beautiful.

"Elena…" he gasped cupping her face. He used his thumb to brush away the tear. Soon, other tears started falling, one after another; on her cheeks, her nose, her lips.

"I'm sorry…I can't…" she murmured again and again. She licked her lips, picking up the salty tears from them and Damon closed his eyes for a second.

"Oh, God…" he mumbled, and with that, his lips found her wet, trembling ones.

Elena let out a guttural moan, her hands finding their way around his neck; tears were pouring from her eyes, on her lips, on his lips…and Damon's tongue was picking up each tear. He pressed his body into hers and she welcomed it, clinging on to him, breathing him in. She was pretty sure she needed to keep kissing him or she would fade away.

Elena could feel each stroke of his tongue in her belly…he wasn't just kissing her, he was consuming her and giving her life at the same time. He kissed her chin, her cheeks, her nose, giving her time to breathe before capturing her lips again. Her hand slipped on his neck, down his collarbone, stopping in the deep V of his shirt. His hand slipped underneath her t-shirt and she moaned softly as his hand made contact with her burning flesh, on the small of her back.

"Elena!" Caroline's voice came from the doorway and Damon and Elena broke apart immediately. Elena's eyes flew in Caroline's direction. Damon took off; using his vampire speed he was out of the room in a split second.

"What was that?" Caroline asked advancing towards Elena.

**N**: _So, how did you like the kiss? Was it worth the long wait? I really hope it was worth it…the only way to let me know for sure, is if you leave a review, so please do! _


	19. Chapter 19

**N**: _So, there's another one…I'm sorry for the delay, I feel asleep and didn't get to post it last night. I really hope this one won't disappoint you guys. If there's something you find out of character, or/and out of place, please let me know; with a review of course! Now, let's get to the chapter; picking up where we left of._

_A special thank you to bibby180 for beta-reading this!_

**Wait, I can't explain!**

Elena pressed her fingers against her lips and looked at Caroline, her eyes opened wide and more round, salty tears started making their way down her flushed cheeks.

"I…I don't know…" she mumbled. Her hand slid from her mouth to her chest. She could feel her heartbeat, fast and uneven against the palm of her hand.

Caroline continued her path until she was standing just a few steps away from Elena.

"Elena…do you…love him?" Caroline asked in a weak voice.

"I don't know…" Elena mumbled taking a seat by the edge of the bed. Caroline joined her, placing her left hand on Elena's knee.

"Elena…it's ok if you feel something for Damon; for what it's worth, I think he earned it…in a way. I just think that whatever your feelings are, you should be honest with you _and_ with him."

"I'm her…" Elena said, like she hadn't heard a word Caroline had just said.

"What…who?"

"I'm her…" Elena repeated.

"What are you talking about, Elena? You're who?"

"Katherine…I'm Katherine…"

"What? No, Elena, you're not her; you could never be her,"

"But I am. I'm Stefan's girlfriend…and I kissed Damon…and it felt good; God, Caroline…it felt so good! I felt complete, I didn't know a kiss could feel like that…and I wanted to do it again and again; and again…and I wanted to do it forever," Elena shouted.

"It's ok, everything's going to be ok," Caroline whispered, placing Elena's head in her lap.

"No, it's not…it's not ok…it will never be ok again…"

***season three – off the wagon***

"Bourbon, double, neat," the girl said, taking a seat at the bar.

"Bad day?" the bartender, a guy that was no older than 22 years old, asked.

"Oh, believe me, you don't want to know," Catlin answered, taking a sip of her drink. She put her handbag on the counter and finally looked the boy in the eyes.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Tucker," the boy answered.

"That's a terrible name."

"Thanks, I'll take that as a compliment," Tucker said with a smile.

"It wasn't a compliment…"

"Why not? I think people should decide for themselves if they do or do not take something as a good thing or a bad thing."

"Oh…you're one of _those_ people!"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well…the kind that thinks the world can change," Catlin answered.

"Is there something wrong with that?" he asked.

"No…guess not."

"I get off at ten."

"I'll be outside," Catlin said. She finished her drink in one gulp and left the bar.

***season three – off the wagon***

"Is she ok?" Damon asked as soon as Caroline came out of Stefan's room.

"She's a mess, Damon…" Caroline said in a soft voice.

"I didn't force her into anything," Damon rushed and Caroline raised an eyebrow at him.

"I know you didn't. That's not why Elena's a mess…"

"Oh…"

"What did you expect, Damon? I mean…she's with Stefan, even though he's not here right now. She still has feelings for him and now she obviously feels something for you. She's confused and she feels guilty…"

"And how do you think _I_ feel?" Damon asked interrupting Caroline. "She's my baby brother's girlfriend…she's the woman he loves…I feel like I'm betraying him; I mean, he sacrificed everything…he's not here with her right now, because he is God knows where with a homicidal hybrid, paying for my life…and…I know it's wrong, but I can't help it. I tried, don't think I didn't! I tried not to feel like this…but I can't."

"Well…I kind of know what you feel. I like Tyler, but I don't want to hurt Matt…"

"Really, you and the dog?" Damon asked opening his eyes wide.

"Would you please stop calling him that!"

"That's beyond the point Blondie. You and him…it's dangerous," Damon said and Caroline smiled in the corner of her mouth.

"Robert left him his ring before he took off. As long as he doesn't turn, he can't hurt me," Caroline explained.

"If you…" the loud knock on the door was what stopped Damon. He took a long look at Caroline before speeding off the stairs.

He opened the door and a smirk appeared on his face.

"Beatrice, what are you doing here?" he asked and the woman crossed her arms in front of her chest, looking at Damon from head to toe.

"Hello to you too old friend; I'm here because you need me. I could hear the cries of pain from a continent away…" the woman answered.

"Come on in!"

Beatrice stepped inside, she only took a few steps before she got dizzy and Damon had to support her. She let go of her suitcase and grabbed Damon's arm, holding it tight. She could feel everything…pain, regret, guilt, confusion and it was overwhelming.

"Are you ok?" Damon asked concerned.

"So much pain…it's everywhere…so loud… and death, death, I can feel it, cold and empty…"

"Well, we just lost someone," Damon explained.

"Yes…the one with the gift of magic."

"Elena's best friend," he added.

"Oh…so it happened. I'm so sorry, Damon," Beatrice murmured.

***season three – off the wagon***

"Would you please stop walking around for a minute, you're driving me crazy!" Tyler shouted, but Caroline didn't stop. She continued pacing through the room, like a girl on a mission.

"I can't…I need to do something…"

"I get that, but I don't think that's going to help," Tyler said, this time using a soft tone.

"I walked in…and there they were…" Caroline mumbled, more to herself than to Tyler.

"I know…but…are you really surprised it happened? If you ask me, this was never a matter of _if_ it will happen, more like a matter of _when_."

"But, it's Elena we're talking about!"

"I know that…love's a funny thing, making you do things you never thought you would and it gets the best of us…"

"Yeah…I suppose it is…but still…"

"You don't know which side you're supposed to be on? Stefan was a great friend to you and you care about him a lot…but then Damon's your friend too and he kind of saved your life…Elena is your best friend and you don't know what to do. I get it, it's complicated, but Caroline, it's not your place to do anything."

"But…I don't want anyone to get hurt," Caroline protested as she finally stopped walking around.

"I know, but in a case like this, when three people are involved, someone always ends up getting hurt. The thing is, sometimes one of them believes he/she should make a compromise and everyone ends up getting hurt; let's hope that won't happen."

"When did you become so wise and thoughtful?" Caroline asked surprised.

"I had to; and it's kind of easier to see things when you're not directly involved. I can look at it from a cold angle…an objective opinion, you know?"

"I guess…"

***season three – off the wagon***

Elena took a long shower, finding the hot water calming. She had been sleeping almost all day, so she decided it was time for a walk. It was a warm day so she went for a spaghetti strap dress. She put it on and went to stand in front of the mirror…she let out a deep breath when she saw the bruises on her shoulders.

A noise caught her attention and she immediately turned around. Damon was standing right behind her and she jumped backwards.

"Damon…you scared me!" she shouted, stretching her hand for a jacket; she almost had it when Damon's hand stopped her. He grabbed her hand and looked her directly in the eyes…there was something in them that kept her steady.

"What happened?" he asked.

"What? I want to go for a walk…" Elena answered, like she had no idea what he was talking about.

"I figured that…what gave you these?" he asked again, his eyes going in the direction of her shoulders for a second, then back at her face.

"Oh that…nothing, it's nothing…" she mumbled.

"That is _not_ nothing, Elena…who did this to you?" Damon asked. His protective nature took over and he was ready to kill the person responsible for hurting her.

"It's…I fell…it's ok, it's not that bad…" she answered with a fake smile.

Damon placed his hands on her shoulders, applying a little pressure and Elena moaned in pain.

"You really think I'm stupid enough to believe you fell and bruised both your shoulders?"

"No…I…it was Stefan…" she whispered.

"_Stefan_…Stefan was here?" Damon yelled.

"Last night…"

**N**: _I hope you're all ok with the fact that I brought Beatrice into the mix, it was a surprise…so…surprise! Please leave a review! _


	20. Chapter 20

**N: **_First I just want to thank all of you for still being here, reading my story even after getting a taste of the real thing!_

_This chapter's small, but I thought you'll prefer two updates a week instead of a long one only once a week._

_Thank you bibby180 for your beta work, you help me a lot!_

**Do you really want to know?**

"Damn it Elena, why didn't you tell me?" Damon asked, taking a step closer to her.

"I…he told me not to…he told me if people find out he was here, then Klaus will find out and kill him…and us. I'm sorry…" she mumbled.

"He hurt you," Damon said stretching his hand towards her bruised shoulders, but she took a step backwards, avoiding his touch.

"I told him to go away and he wouldn't go, so I wanted to take off myself…he stopped me," Elena explained.

"Elena…what happened?" he asked, this time his voice sounding calm and collected. Elena looked up at him and her heart ached at the sight of the pain she found deep in his blue orbs.

"I had another nightmare and…"

"What do you mean _another_ nightmare?"

"Well, even since…that night, I keep having this dream…you're lying there on the bed after Tyler bit you and no one comes with the cure…you're dying and I can't save you. Either that, or Stefan kills you…"

"I didn't know you have this dream."

"I haven't told anyone…I think I kind of got used to them."

"So…you woke up and there he was?"

"Yes…he told me not to speak. He didn't want anyone in the house to hear us. He told me he's here to tell me where Elijah is and…I told him I know…"

"So he attacked you?"

"No…but Damon…I told him about Bonnie and he said he didn't mean to kill her, he said he sent that wolf-girl after Jeremy."

"What?" Damon asked.

"He told me Bonnie's death was just a mistake…" Elena covered her mouth with her hand and soon the tears that she fought so hard to keep in poured out. "He wasn't Stefan, Damon…I mean, physically he was there, but…there was nothing in his eyes…no emotions, no regret…nothing…" she continued between sobs.

"I know…I know…" Damon murmured in her ear as she molded herself against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her shaking body, holding her tight. His left hand was going in slow motion up and down her back, giving her a calming sensation.

"He said Katherine is helping him…"

"Well, I guess we were expecting that since she told us she's going after him."

"I don't trust her, Damon…I can't."

"I know; me neither."

***season three – off the wagon***

Catlin grabbed Tucker by his collar and pushed him against the brick wall. He screamed from the pain and the young vampire smirked in satisfaction.

"Oh God!" the guy mumbled.

"God has nothing to do with this, babe…it's all me."

"Wha-what are you?"

"What do _you_ think I am? Oh, don't tell me; the tooth fairy?"

"Please!" Tucker begged.

"Please what?"

"Don't kill me…please!"

"Why not? You wouldn't be the first…or the last. What makes you special?" Catlin asked, letting her fangs caress the sensitive skin of his neck; from his collarbone, all the way to his ear, leaving a red line behind. The guy moaned in pain, his sweaty, trembling hands trying to push her away.

"I have to give you points for trying. Most of them would just lay there panicked by fear…you're scared shitless too, but at least you still put up some sort of a fight, even though it's pointless and I think deep…" she said pointing at his chest. "…down, you know that. You know you'll die no matter what you do."

"Aren't you a cocky one?" a third voice asked from behind her.

Catlin turned around, taking her time. She let go of Tucker and the boy fell to the ground gasping for air.

"And aren't you a stupid one? Didn't your momma taught you it's not polite to interrupt a conversation between two adults?"

"Let's say I'm a rebel…I never do what I'm told," Tatiana said taking a few steps forwards. The pale light from the shop across the street fell on her face and Catlin smiled, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Wanna bet?" she asked. Using her supernatural speed she was in front of Tatiana in a split second. She placed her palms on each side of her face and looked her directly in the eyes.

"You're going to stay still and quiet, patiently waiting your turn!" Catlin said firmly, turning around to finish the job and kill the bartender.

"Does that usually work?" Tatiana asked amused.

Before Catlin had the chance to react, Tatiana pushed her across the ally; It took her just about five seconds to get up.

"Not bad…you're a vampire, that's nice, it so happens that I have just the thing to put an end to your 'eternal' existence," Catlin said. She took a few steps back and ran towards Tatiana at full speed, but it wasn't a vampire that attacked…it was a werewolf.

Tatiana fell to the ground, moaning in pain. The next few minutes looked more like a bunch of shadows rolling from one corner of the street to another. Neither one of them seemed to win or lose.

***season three – off the wagon***

"Are you sure you can do this without any help?" Klaus asked and Harmony nodded.

"I'm sure, I just need the first doppelganger and Elisaveta's grimoire," the witch said taking a seat in the chair in front of Klaus.

She picked up her glass and raised it in front of her face.

"To the new Order!" she said and the vampire smiled.

"To you, my dear," he said, and then he picked up what looked like a portrait of Katherine and took a good look at it. "I told you I'll find a way to bring you back, Elisaveta…" he mumbled at the picture.

***season three – off the wagon***

Ophelia and Elijah walked inside the Boarding House and everyone stopped what they were doing and just followed them around with curious eyes.

"We found it; we found the missing journal," Elijah announced and everyone sight relied.

"I'll go find Adney," Alaric said, but Elijah stopped him.

"It ok, I'll take this to him. He needs to take a good look at it before we decide anything," Elijah said and Alaric nodded. "Mom, you can go rest, it's been a long ride," he continued, turning to face his mother.

He knocked softly on the door and opened it right after he heard Adney shout 'come on in!' from the other side.

"We're back," he said looking around uncomfortable. It was probably the first time in his afterlife that he felt so nervous that he had to distract himself from the person he was talking to.

"I see that," Adney mumbled taking a step in Elijah's direction. "I suppose that's the missing journal," he pointed at the note-book in Elijah's right hand.

"Yes it is; my mother and I decided you should take a look at it before discussing this with everyone else."

"Why? Is it because not everyone might want Klaus dead?" Adney asked taking the book from Elijah.

"No, because not everyone would want _you_ dead…" Elijah mumbled, finally looking Adney in the eyes.

"Oh…" was all Adney had left to say.

"I'll leave you to it then," Elijah said before getting out of the room, leaving Adney alone with the journal that he spent all his life looking for.

***season three – off the wagon***

"Come on in!" Ophelia shouted and Elena and Damon got inside.

"I'm sorry, I know you must be tired from the trip, but we need some answers," Elena announced and the woman smiled slightly.

"Of course you do. You want to know how it happened, how we became the first vampires in the world…and you want to know why I stole my son's wife's' journal…take a seat, this might take a while!" she said pointing towards the sofa.

**N**: _Please don't forget to leave a review on your way out! _


	21. Chapter 21

**N**: _Hey guys! So, I'm super excited about this chapter…I have my own version of how the first vampires were created (the story of the Originals) and all and I can't wait to find out your opinions on it. Please, please let me know if I did a good job or the idea's completely ridiculous and I should just find some other way to kill my time, lol! _

_Thank you Valerie (2serendipity) for beta-reading this, your suggestions had been very helpful!_

**The passion is underneath each reason**

"Alexander was my firstborn; Elijah and Tatiana were next, then Niklaus and a year after, Remus. Three years after Remus, I got pregnant again, with twins again. The pregnancy was a difficult one with a lot of complications, and the doctor insisted on bed rest two months before term. I did everything I could; Neo brought me the best doctors …but my two boys didn't make it; they died at birth," Ophelia wiped away a tear and took a deep breath she didn't need before continuing.

"I couldn't bear it…I blamed myself for their death, so I did the only thing left…"

"You called in a witch," Damon said and Ophelia nodded.

"The best…her name was Irene; she was part of this Order…"

"The Order of Magus," Elena interrupted her.

"Yes."

"What's that about?" Damon asked.

"Well, they were a group of pureblood witches and warlocks, who'd vowed to protect the world. They were really powerful, but they weren't allowed to interfere with the human world. Irene was the first to break that rule. She came to the palace the very night it happened and I told her I'd do anything to have her bring me back my babies. She told me it wasn't up to her to give or take life, but she offered to conjure death…I accepted, even though she told me death doesn't work cheap."

"So she did it…she put you face to face with death…" Elena mumbled.

"She did…"

"And death made you into vampires?" Damon asked impatiently.

"Not really. Death offered to restore my children's lives in exchange for my family and myself becoming her servants. 'Death lasts forever, so you shall live forever, but as death is to life what the dark is to the light, your progeny will be forever bound to the night; as death is cold, so shall you be; death comes quick and without mercy as will you; the quickening of life's blood is death's antithesis… so blood you shall crave; blood is what you will kill for. Every kill you make shall be in payment to me.' That's what she said…I was scared and out of my mind, and I just wanted my baby boys to live… so I accepted and she gave them their lives back. She told me that, in time, we would all become her soldiers and then she disappeared."

Damon and Elena were now watching her in silence. Elena was trying to understand the mother that did what she had to do to save her children; Damon was trying not to blame the woman in front of him for Klaus's existence, for Katherine's, for what had happened to him and his brother and pretty much for all the vampires in the world.

"At first it happened to me and Neo, then to Alexander, Elijah and Tatiana and so on. It was painful and disorientating; we didn't know what was happening. I was forced to explain to my husband what I'd done…he said he understood, but that didn't stop him from taking advantage of his new abilities."

"What about the journal… how did it get in your possession?" Elena asked and Ophelia smiled sadly.

"By mistake; Elisaveta was sending them away from the castle. That one got sent my way and I decided to keep it."

"Why?"

"Well…when you'll have children…" Ophelia started, then she stopped and looked at Damon before continuing, "…_if_ you ever have children, you'll understand it's all about them. That notebook held a way to kill my son; I wanted it away from anything or anyone that was willing to take advantage of that," Ophelia give them an 'I'm sorry, but I'm not sorry I did that,' look.

"Of course, Klaus found out about that. He knew a member of the family had it, but he didn't know which one. I decided he was better off not knowing so I didn't say anything. The only one that wasn't a 'suspect' was Elijah since he was with Klaus in Germany when it happened…"

"So Klaus' killed' the rest of you one by one to make sure the journal wouldn't ever be found," Damon said, figuring it out.

"Yes, only later he realized that nothing stays hidden forever, so he started looking for it. Irene was the one that told him the key to his death was his son, so that's when he stopped looking for the journal and started looking for Adney instead. From what my son…Elijah told me, there are rumours that the first doppelganger found him…"

"Katherine…yes, she did; she's the one that brought Adney here," Elena said.

"So I guess they weren't just rumours then."

"No…"

"I just hope that you're not going to change your mind once you see your long lost son and stop us from killing him," Damon said coldly and Elena gave him a reproachful look.

"You won't kill him…you can't…he will die…" Ophelia mumbled.

"What do you mean? Does he have, like … an expiration date?" Damon asked.

"No; it's simple…it's all about the blood. Killing his son will kill Klaus as well. Elisaveta wanted to make sure her son would be protected…so she bound their blood. She always was a smart girl and she knew Klaus. She loved him …she actually loved them both. I guess if you've read the other journals, you know the story…?"

"I do…" Elena answered.

"What story?" Damon asked, looking at Elena in confusion.

***season three – off the wagon***

"I need you to do something for me," Klaus said and Stefan raised an eyebrow at him. "I need you to go to LA."

"What's in LA?" Stefan asked.

"Hopefully, Katherine."

"Oh…and what if she is? She won't come with me; you know that she's still stronger than I am."

"I know that…I don't want her to come with you, I just don't want her to leave. Do whatever you have to do to keep her in the city until I get there!"

"Alright," Stefan mumbled and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

***season three – off the wagon***

"I'll let you two talk," Ophelia whispered and walked out of the room, leaving Damon and Elena alone on the couch.

"So, what story?" Damon asked again as the door closed behind the Original.

"Well…apparently Elisaveta was Klaus's wife, but…she had a thing for Elijah as well," Elena said, sounding unsure. She was kind of trying to avoid thinking about that, it reminded her too much of…no, she wouldn't, she couldn't think like that….

"So…?" Damon pushed.

"What do you mean 'so'? She was married to Klaus, so she had no right to feel about Elijah that way!" Elena shouted, standing up and walking away from the couch.

"Elena, it's not as black and white as that. It's not like you can choose the way you feel about someone… They're feelings… They're just…there."

"She slept with Elijah, ruining the relationship between those two brothers. She changed them…. She said she loved Klaus so much that she gave her life to protect him, but she just wasn't able to stop the way she felt about Elijah… At least her love for Klaus was good and pure. But the way she felt for Elijah has been wrong and painful; from what I read, it was burning, consuming her until she gave in; for a moment of passion, she put at risk what she'd had with Klaus."

"At least she got to know real passion. You know how hard to find that is?"

"That doesn't make it right…"

"I know that…"

"Do you have any idea how hard it was for her to stay away from Elijah, to pretend she didn't feel the way she felt about him, to be so close to him, all the time, but not be able to really be with him?"

"Are we still talking about Elisaveta and Elijah?" Damon asked, rising from the couch. He used his supernatural speed and was standing in front of Elena in a heartbeat.

"I…yes…yes…" she mumbled, taking a step backwards.

"Are you quite sure about that?" he asked in a whisper as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Elena closed her eyes at his feather light touch and let out a soft gasp.

"We…we can't…" she murmured.

"You don't think I know that…I know we can't…" he continued, close to her ear. Each whispered word he uttered, gave Elena chills all over her body. He straightened, "I should probably go…"

"Yes, you probably should…" Elena confirmed.

Damon let out a deep sigh…the sensation of his cold breath on her sensitive flesh making Elena tremble slightly. He pressed his lips on her cheek and closed his eyes, enjoying the moment while he had the chance.

As soon as he left, Elena started breathing again. She let her body sink down on the cold linoleum, taking deep breaths. Soon she realized she'd let out the part of the story about Elisaveta's curse and what Adney had told her.

***season three – off the wagon***

Damon stopped in the doorway of his room and watched Tatiana standing near a small table to mix a drink. She drank half of it in one gulp and put the glass back on the table.

"How long are you going to just stay there?" she asked and Damon's lips curled up in a half smirk.

"I like a woman who can hold her liquor," he said and she smiled.

"You're in luck then, 'cause this is my fifth glass,' Tatiana said winking at him over her shoulder. When she turned around, she knocked over the half full glass and a grimace of pain flitted across her face. Damon was by her side in less than a second; he picked up the glass from the floor and placed it back on the table.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

"Yes…I'm…I'm fine," she mumbled, but Damon didn't buy it for a second. He noticed she had her hand curled up around her middle so he took advantage of the fact that she was weak and a bit tipsy and brushed her hand aside, pulling up the shirt just enough to see the scratches on her abdomen.

"You're not fine! You're hurt," he said and she rolled her eyes.

"It's nothing; I got into a fight," she said.

"A cat fight?" Damon asked, grabbing her hand and turning it around to reveal another set of scratches.

"It was more of a dog fight actually."

"Dog…you got into a fight with a werewolf?"

"Yeah," she answered and Damon's eyes opened wide. "Oh, don't worry, tiger, I'll be ok; it's not like this is the first time I've taken one down."

"But it's not a full moon… a hybrid?"

"Remember you told me about the vampire-wolf girl that killed your friend? I tracked her down…"

"By yourself?"

"Well, yeah. You're offending me, Mr. Salvatore! After all, I am an Original! I'm even older than Klaus and I'm a pretty good fighter."

"I'm sure you are…" Damon said softly.

"Anyway. Your hybrid is dead now…"

"You killed her?"

"Yep." The slang rolled off her tongue without a hitch.

"How?"

"Decapitation and fire. You'll find they work pretty well," Tatiana said with a smile as if they were talking about chickens.

"Did she bite you?" Damon asked, concerned.

"Yeah, the bitch got to me as I tried to compel the boy she was trying to kill when I found her, to get out of there," Tatiana answered as she pulled up her shirt. Her back looked even worse than her stomach and Damon growled.

"It won't kill me, but it takes a while to heal and it hurts like shit! That's what the Bloody Mary was for," she said, pointing at the drink that was spilled all over the floor.

"Here, " Damon offered her his hand, and guided her towards the bed, "You just stay In bed, and I'll bring you something that will help you deal with the pain better than that cheap drink you've got there."

"Hey, it's blood with vodka; nothing wrong with that," she protested. "Besides, I don't need you to take care of me, Damon. I'm about a thousand-and-something years older than you… Plus, it would make me like you and I don't want to like you."

"I thought you already liked me…"

"I think you're hot. There's a difference," she said, raising an eyebrow at him.

"If you say so," Damon said, pulling the covers over her slender body.

"Is there anything I can get you?"

"I think someone else has more need of you than I do," she said and Damon looked at the door. There was no one there, so he turned back towards Tatiana in confusion.

A few moments later, Elena appeared in the doorway.

**N**: _A very anxious author waiting for your reviews! _


	22. Chapter 22

**N**: _Sorry I wasn't able to post on Monday, my internet had failed me, but here we are again, not a big chapter, but the next one is on its way…it will be posted soon._

_I hope you're still with me on this and I really hope you'll enjoy this chapter._

_As always a big 'thank you' goes to by beta Valerie (2serendipity) for her great work!_

**Merciful passion**

"Oh…you're hurt," Elena mumbled, making her way towards the bed. Tatiana rolled her eyes and gave Damon an annoyed look.

"I'm fine," she sighed.

"Stay here; I'll be right back," Damon said, and before Elena or Tatiana had the chance to protest, he disappeared from the room, leaving them alone.

"Hmmm…I…what happened?" Elena asked softly.

"I killed the hybrid that killed your friend," Tatiana answered casually.

"You went after it alone?" Elena asked, surprised.

"Yes… God, you sound just like Damon. I'm perfectly capable of taking down five werewolves, not just one."

There was a moment of silence that had Elena looking in the direction of the door twice, which brought a smile to Tatiana's lips.

"I get it, you know," she said and Elena turned her attention back to the vampire.

"Get what?" Elena asked, confused.

"I never met Stefan, but I totally get why you'd feel something for Damon; he's one of the good guys…and that body of his doesn't hurt, right?"

"Oh…he… I… We're just friends…" Elena mumbled, moving uncomfortably in her seat.

"Hmmm…Do you know…I've seen it happen before, and I imagine it can't be easy. Loving one person is hard enough; I totally understand how loving _two_ men can be overwhelming."

"You mean Elisaveta…" Elena said, figuring out immediately who Tatiana was referring to.

"I didn't know what to do… and I don't think _she_ knew what to do either. I was afraid someone would get hurt… when in the end… everybody got hurt.

"Yeah…I know…" Elena whispered.

"Well, I hope their tragic story will help you _not_ to make the same mistakes. Time to change history, Elena…"

***season three – off the wagon***

Stefan was holding his glass with both hands, looking at the door. The bar was almost empty and Stefan chose the darkest corner, because he only wanted to be seen by one person. Seeing Elena had affected him more than he cared to admit.

"Katherine…" Stefan mumbled when he felt another presence beside him.

"Hey there, my love. How was the reunion back home?" Katherine asked, taking a seat in a chair next to Stefan.

"Fine," Stefan mumbled.

"That bad, huh?" Katherine asked, placing her hand on Stefan's right knee. He looked at her and Katherine prepared for some yelling at her or at least for him brushing her hand away…what she wasn't prepared for was Stefan's hand covering her fingers and his thumb caressing the back of her hand. She almost pulled it back, but then he spoke and the tone of his voice kept her still.

"She hates me…and she's right to hate me…she's right…she's right…I'm becoming the monster Klaus wants me to be. He wants you; he wants me to keep you here until he can come for you. He was saying something about bringing someone back…"

"Oh, that's not good…That's not good at all, Stefan. You can't let him do that to me."

"What's the deal with the lady he wants to bring back from the dead?" Stefan asked.

"The first one…Elisaveta; she was Klaus's wife. She created the curse and sacrificed herself to perform it. From the sacrifice of the first doppelganger, the bones of the original, the soul of the un-dead and the blood of the one she died for, she'll rise again. All those that wear her face will then vanish, which means Elena will go…poof and no one will remember she ever existed once Elisaveta takes her place back in the world."

"But why…why would Klaus want her back so badly?" Stefan asked.

"Because she's the one that needs to be sacrificed so that the curse could never be redone; right now, a powerful enough witch can cast the same curse on him using the blood of the doppelganger…the doppelganger must be alive and I suppose Klaus found out Elena didn't die."

"How do you know all this?" Stefan asked.

"It's not important. You need to go back and tell them to hurry!"

"Go where?"

"To Mystic Falls."

***season three – off the wagon***

"Is she going to be ok?" Elena asked with some concern.

"I thought you didn't like Tatiana," Damon remarked, with a smirk.

"She's alright, I just…"

"You were jealous."

"Damon!" Elena hissed.

"Elena…" he mocked. "You kissed me, Elena…and this time, no one was dying…"

"I know… I didn't plan for it to happen," Elena said defensively.

"I'm not saying you did, but it happened and I can't ignore that. I can't ignore that kiss, because it's all I can think about…"

"Damon…don't…" Elena interrupted him.

"I can't pretend it didn't happen, Elena! It haunts me, every minute of every hour of every day. Elena…I lov…"

"Shhh…" Elena murmured, placing her index finger on his lips. "Don't say it!" Her eyes were fixed on his lips and for a few seconds, he was paralyzed; he didn't know what to do. "…not before I'm ready to say it back," she finished and his eyes opened wide.

He placed his hand over hers and kissed her fingers softly before she placed her hand over his cheek. They were so close, only centimetres apart…Damon could feel her warm breath on his lips…Elena could feel his soft skin under the palm of her hand.

She closed the distance between them; Damon didn't move a muscle; he knew this was her game. There was nothing else left between then but time: one minute before Damon would lose his self-control, push her up against a wall and claim her, 30 seconds before she'd let go of her fears and allow herself to love that man in front of her and ten, nine, eight…seconds before….

Her lips touched his…only a slight touch, but enough to burn…and she let out a soft moan. She kissed his bottom lip just as softly, and this time, he was the one moaning.

"Kissing you is like nothing I've ever felt before…" she murmured…her lips so close to his that they were brushing against one another and Damon let out a gasp. "…it's so intense…I feel like I'm about to pass out every time you touch me…I'm scared, Damon, because I'm holding back and it still feels like it's going to consume me… I'm afraid that if I let go, it will devour me…I'm afraid it will eat me up until there's nothing left…"

"That's love, Elena…it reaches the most hidden and sensitive places inside you and it rips them apart…it pushed and pulls, until you don't know which way to go anymore…it settles in each and every cell in your body, until that's all you are and all you breathe. If it doesn't hurt, it's not real…" Damon said in a whisper and a few tears rolled over Elena's cheek, dying in the palm of Damon's hand.

"I'm scared…" Elena said in weak voice.

"I know… so am I, but everything will be ok, it has to," Damon replied. He placed a kiss on her cheek and another one on her forehead, before storming out of the room.

**N**: _I know Damon's departure was a little…rushed, but he had to get away before losing his self-control. I hope you guys liked this short chapter…and the Delena moment. If you did (or even if you didn't) please let me know by reviewing! _


	23. Chapter 23

**N: **_Here we go another chapter for you guys. I hope you still like this story, coz' I got very few reviews lately…__. The show totally stole my idea and made the original Petrova a witch and made Klaus need her, lol. Just sayin'. So, what did you guy think of the latest episode?_

_This chapter's a bit odd…hope it's clear tough; if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask me!_

_As always, thank you Valerie (2serendipity) you are great!_

**Half way there**

_I'm looking around, trying to realize where I am; it's so dark, I can barely see what's in front of me…and there's __nothing__…not to my right, not to my left…there's __nothing__ around me. _

"_Elena…" I hear someone call my name. I can't say if it's a woman's or a man's voice…it comes from too far away for me to be sure, but I think it's a woman talking._

"_Elena Gilbert, right?" the voice asks and now I can clearly recognize it as __mine__. I pretty much expect the lights to come back on, like in a movie. When the mystery person reveals himself, the lights come back on, but as always, the usual rules don't apply…not to me._

"_You won't be able to see me…I don't exist in your world, but I AM part of it. I can't take corporeal form on this plane, but I do have a soul."_

"_Who are you?"_

"_Are you Elena Gilbert?" the voice asks again, and I have a feeling she already knows, but clearly she wants to hear me say it._

"_Yes, I am," I mumble._

"_I have a message for you…"_

"_Of course you do," I whisper to myself; voices without a face always have some kind of message._

"_There's only so much I can tell you. What you do with the information is up to you," she says and I nod slightly._

"_You love them both… it's a curse…" she tells me and I'm seriously starting to believe it's my own conscience and I'm just talking to myself._

"_Am I dreaming?" I ask._

"_Yes…but remember, if it's a dream, that doesn't mean it's not real!"_

_I still look around, because seeing only dark before your eyes and hearing your own voice speaking to you does NOT make you feel safe and secure. It's like being blind and having a bunch of your crazy friends playing a bad prank on you. I want it to stop…but it wouldn't of course._

"_I understand that you're scared," her voice sounds calm and precise…definitely not mine, because I'm freaking out. "You will be ok; I won't hurt you…"_

_I take a few seconds and think about what she just said…I come to the conclusion that I'm not afraid she will hurt me…I'm afraid of what she knows._

"_It happened to me…it happened to the first doppelganger… and now it's happening to you."_

"_What's happening to me?" I ask. I soon realize the question is stupid since it has so many answers, but I'm sure the voice knows what I'm talking about._

"_You can't love just one…" now her voice is sad, I'm sure of it, because if there's anything I'm familiar with, It's my own voice and the way it sounds when I'm sad. Of course the sad tone is the least of my concerns once her words get through to me._

"_I can't…what are you talking about?" I ask, confused. Deep down I know exactly what she's talking about, but I'm just not ready to face reality…not yet. It's complicated and confusing…and I have no idea what to do, so I pretend it's not there because is easier that way._

"_Brothers…you love two brothers…" the voice whispers and I let out a gasp…hearing that in my own voice just makes it much more real and in a way…very __painful__._

"_But…I can't…it's not…it's impossible to love two people at the same time…isn't it?"_

"_Not for you, I'm afraid. It's because of me, you see. I fell in love…and I wasn't supposed to, so they took my love and split it in two. You can't have one without the other, because your love is not complete. The mistake they made is that, when they split that love, they made one that's childish, pure and selfless and one that's all erotic and passionate. You settle for the pure and easy kind…but soon your body's burning with desire for the other one…"_

_I'm shaking my head as she speaks, because all this…it's too much. Hearing her say that just makes me feel bad, makes me feel like I'm betraying someone no matter what I do._

"_You can't choose; no matter which one you pick, your heart will ache for the other one. The need for him will consume you. The only way out is death."_

"_Why two brothers? Couldn't it at least be two people that have no connection whatsoever…?" I ask._

"_It's easy; if you think about it, it makes sense. These brothers share half their blood, and the love is tied into that half. "_

"_How is that making any sense? Wait…half their blood?" _

"_Yes, that's what the curse says. We're cursed to love two half-brothers," she answers and I'm just…shocked. I didn't know Stefan and Damon are only half-brothers…I don't think __they__ even know._

"_Well, can't this curse be broken?" I ask._

"_Every curse can be broken…"_

"_How?"_

"_I can't tell you that…"_

"_Great, very helpful. So you're basically here to tell me I'm doomed to be in love with two brothers at the same time for the rest of my life and that there's no way out. Not to mention the whole Stefan and Damon are only __half__-brothers thing…why would you tell me that? I didn't want to know! What am I supposed to do with this information now?" I am confused and scared and I just want something…anything to hold on to._

"_I'm sorry I can't help you…"_

Elena woke up moaning. She pushed herself up into a sitting position, gasping for air, her right hand pressed against her chest.

It took her at least one hour before she fell back asleep.

***season three – off the wagon***

Adney was pacing through the large room, holding the journal tight in his hands. It was clear…the only way to kill Klaus was if Klaus killed _him_. He had lived long enough, so death didn't scare him as such, but it just didn't seem fair.

He'd just now met the rest of the family… Call him 'crazy', but he kind of wanted to spend some time with them; he wanted to get to know the man his mother had risked her marriage for. Reading so many things about him had made him curious.

But he had to…his mother would've wanted this. She'd sacrificed herself for the world and now he was the only one able to make the world safe again by doing the same.

***season three – off the wagon***

"Damon!" Elena screamed as she woke up for the second time in less than three hours.

"I'm here, I'm here…" Damon murmured soothingly, taking a seat by the edge of her bed.

Elena stretched out her hand to grab his. She squeezed it tight and Damon returned the favour, just to assure her he was there.

"Damon…" she whispered, "…you can't die; please don't die!"

"I'm here, I'm not going anywhere…I promise," he said and Elena smiled weakly.

"I'm sorry…I didn't mean to scare you. I'm sorry I woke you up."

"It's ok; I wasn't asleep."

"You came so fast…you didn't sleep at all, did you? Nor Last night either? You're looking after me…you're afraid he'll come back and this time he will hurt me, aren't you?" Elena asked. She didn't need to say the name; they both new very well that she was talking about Stefan.

"I promised I wouldn't let anything happen to you and I won't, even if that means that I'll never sleep again until we've found Stefan."

"Would you be able to sleep if I'm right beside you?" Elena asked and Damon raised an eyebrow at her.

"What are you saying?" he asked.

"Well, if you stay here…" she moved a few inches to the right, making space beside her. "…in bed with me, so you can feel it if something were to happen to me, would you be able to sleep then?" she asked again.

"Elena, I…"

"Would you?"

"I guess, but…"

"No buts, Damon! You need to sleep, I need to sleep… We might as well do it together… Please?" she added the last word in a soft whisper, her hand slowly pulling him closer.

"Alright," he finally said after a minute of silence.

He crawled into the bed next to Elena, expecting her to turn around, or at least put some distance between them…what he didn't expect was Elena resting her head on his shoulder and her tiny hand holding on tight to his own.

Fifteen minutes later he could hear Elena's regular breathing and he knew she'd gone back to sleep. He smiled…then his smile turned into laughter as soon as he realized just how happy he was that this beautiful, sexy girl was asleep in his arms…

Elena's hand slid from his middle to his chest; his shirt was only half buttoned, because he'd put it on in a hurry, so soon her palm was resting on his bare chest…her soft touch making every muscle in his body contract.

After about two minutes of torture, she stopped moving and soon Damon followed Elena in the land of dreams.

**N**: _Here you go, hope you liked it. Please DO review! _


	24. Chapter 24

**N: **_I know this chapter's short, but the next one will be a longer, promise. Not much to say about this one other then, enjoy! _

_The next chapter will be the last __ so it will take some time to write; probably won't be on until next Thursday._

_I have a question for you guys before I start writing it though: how many of you actually care if Adney lives or dies in this story?_

_As always, thank you Valerie (2serendipity) for beta-reading this! You know you rock at it, right?_

**Now we move on**

"Aren't you too young to be drinking in a bar all by yourself?" the girl asked and Jeremy turned around to face her.

She was a beautiful blonde girl; she didn't look older than 17. Her lips were soft, sparkly pink and she had a sweet smile that turned even brighter when Jeremy smirked at her.

"Look who's talking," he said.

"Oh, I'm older than I look," she whispered like she was telling him a big secret.

"You look about fifteen."

"I'm 22," she said and took an ID from her purse. She handed it to him and he looked at the name first – Joanna Smith – 22 years old – birthplace: Dove Valley, Colorado – eye color: blue.

"This is fake," Jeremy said, handing her back the ID.

"What gave it away?" she asked genuinely curious.

"The eye color; it says here that they're blue… but your eyes are as green as they can get," Jeremy said and the girl smiled.

"Impressive, I think you're the only one who actually noticed that," she said, smiling. "My name's Charity."

"No way!"

"Yeah, apparently my mother was a big fan of charities; don't know, I hardly knew her; she died two years after I was born."

"I'm sorry…" Jeremy said in a soft voice.

"You're sorry my mother died or you're sorry I got stuck with this name?" Charity asked, amusement clear in her voice.

"I'm sorry for your mother…"

"It's alright, it happened a long time ago. I don't even remember having a mother."

"I lost my parents too, both of them in a car accident."

"I'm sorry…"

Charity raised her glass in the air and Jeremy shook his head; she took a sip from her drink and then turned back to face him.

"Did they really give you that, based on that fake ID?" he asked.

"No, I promised the bartender a blow-job," she said with a large smile on her face. Jeremy's expression changed from curious to horrified in a matter of seconds and for some reason that made Charity laugh. "Geez, I'm kidding, lighten up, would you! They gave me this based on the fact that some older dude bought it for me actually."

"Oh…"

***season three – off the wagon***

"I can help you," Beatrice said as she stormed inside Adney's room. He walked by the small desk and placed the journal on it; then he turned to face the woman who'd just busted inside his room without even knocking.

"I'm Adney, and you are?"

"I know who you are. I am here to help you," she said, taking a few steps closer. She stopped in front of him and extended her right hand. "I'm Beatrice," she said with a smile and he returned it right away. "I arrived here two days ago, but I was too exhausted to move around. The grief and the pain in this house wore me out," Beatrice said taking a seat on the edge of Adney's large bed.

"Sorry, I didn't get your name…" Adney mumbled.

"Beatrice," she said stretching her hand.

"A pleasure," Adney returned as he pressed his lips on her hand, making Beatrice gasp in surprise. It had been a while since a man did that…

***season three – off the wagon***

Elena opened her eyes slowly. She felt rested, calm and safe; for the first time in weeks she'd actually slept without waking up every hour. Turning to her left, she found Damon; he was still asleep. Even in his sleep he still had his lips curled up in a soft smirk and Elena smiled at the image.

Without thinking twice, she lifted her hand and brushed a strand of hair off his forehead; she let her fingers slip on his cheek, his jaw line…then back again. There was no denying that the man next to her was beautiful, but he was also caring and protective, sexy and passionate, stubborn and impulsive…he was the full package.

She couldn't resist the urge, so she bent over a few inches and placed a light kiss in the corner of his mouth. The next thing she knew, Damon's lips parted and his hand made its way to her neck, her chin, her ear and stopped at the back of her head; his fingers tangled in her hair and he pulled her head aside to give him better access to her mouth.

He ran the tip of his tongue over her bottom lip and she let out a soft moan; his mouth closed over hers as his tongue made its way inside. Their tongues were now fighting for dominance and Elena started feeling a tingling sensation between her legs each time his tongue was stroking hers.

"Damon!" she mumbled without breaking the kiss.

"Hm," Damon answered absently. Right now he was more preoccupied with kissing her than with listening to her.

"I want you!" she whispered. As soon as the words left her mouth, Damon stopped and looked down at her.

"Now?" he asked in surprise.

"Now," she answered, her right hand caressing his left cheek. She smiled at him; a weak, almost shy smile, but it was enough to make Damon smile back.

"Elena…" he started, but she pressed her index against his lips to shut him up before he had the chance to finish the sentence.

"Don't ask me if I'm sure, because I'm not. All I know is that I want you more than I ever wanted anything in my life. It pains me that while I feel something for you, I can't tell you. It hurts me when I hurt you and it kills me when you're so close to me, but I can't touch you. I don't know if it's the right thing to do; it probably isn't…but I don't care."

"That's fine by me, but that's not what I was trying to say," Damon said and Elena raised an eyebrow at him, but before he had the chance to explain, the door flew open with a bang as it hit the wall.

Elena's eyes immediately flew in the direction of the door. Her heart stopped beating when she saw Stefan standing in the doorway.

**N**: _There you go; so, what do you think Stefan's reaction would be?_

_Don't forget to leave your review! _


	25. Chapter 25

**N**: Ok,I suck for keeping you guys waiting for so long, I know. But I was stuk on this last chapter; I wrote it a million times and it just didn't live up to my expectations.I still feel it could've been better, but I couldn't keep writing it any longer.I also had my exams last week, so no time. But finally, here it is, the last chapter of "season three –off the wagon. I decided to leave you with a few questions since I will go for the fourth chapter that will be the continuation of this one when I'll have some time – probably the winter break.

_As always, a big, big thank you to my beta, **Valerie****(2serendipity)** for helping me; girl you are great! Now, enjoy and take this opportunity to leave your last review for this story!_

**At the end of the road**

"Stefan…" Elena murmured, barely audible.

"I'm sorry to interrupt; by all means, continue! I mean, you DO want _him__more__than__you__ever__wanted__anything__in__your__life_, right?" Stefan smirked and the gesture gave Elena chills down her spine.

"Don't get cocky now, brother. Just because you've been tearing people apart all summer doesn't make you stronger than me!" Damon said and in a split second he was in the hall, holding Stefan against the wall; his hand was holding him by his throat.

"So, you finally got the girl, huh?" Stefan asked in a strangled voice. "To bad you had to wait for me to take off so she would take an interest in you…"

"Now, now, boys; it's not the time for this!" Beatrice said, coming out of Adney's room. She waved her hand in the air and had Stefan and Damon glued to opposite walls.

"Damn it, Beatrice, I can't move," Damon mumbled.

"I know you can't…"

"I see you found another witch," Stefan interrupted her.

"You'll talk when I tell you to talk!" Beatrice shouted and Stefan found himself incapable to speak. "I already have more than enough reasons to kill you, so don't give me any more or you'll be just a gray corpse in a second. Now…" she turned to Damon, "…behave, or I'll make you spend the day against this wall."

"You can't do that," Damon protested.

"Wanna bet?"

"Fine, I'll be _a__saint_," he said with a fake smile.

Beatrice moved her hand again and Damon was finally free to move. In a heartbeat he was standing beside Elena; he took her hand in his and asked her if she was ok. She bit her bottom lip nervously and nodded.

"Now, I'm going to ask you about your new friend, Klaus; if you say anything else besides what I ask you, you'll go back to being paint on the wall. I have other methods to get the information out of your head, but they are slightly less comfortable for you. Your choice. Now, talk!"

"You need to hurry. Klaus is trying to get the original Petrova back…"

"That's what he told you?" Adney asked, speaking for the first time since he got out of the bedroom, following Beatrice.

"He didn't tell me anything. He has this big old book that he says is precious. He never lets anyone near it and he told me to get Katherine for him. I went to warn her that Klaus is close and she told me his plan. He's going to sacrifice the first doppelganger and some other magical things and chant something from that book to raise Eli… I forgot her name…"

"Elisaveta," Adney murmured.

"Yeah…"

***season three – off the wagon***

"Maybe we should let him do it then. I mean, if your mom would be able to kill him," Elena said and Adney smiled weakly.

"She most certainly will have the ability to kill him, but she had the chance before and she didn't do it. I guess that, at the end of the day we choose love over anything else…" Elena's eyes flew in Damon's direction, then in Stefan's, who raised an eyebrow at her like he was asking her 'who do you love, Elena?' "…but that's not the reason I don't want that to happen…"

"Oh, yeah, I forgot the fun part," Stefan said. He wasn't against the wall anymore. He was in a chair in the corner of the living room. "If he manages to get her back, all other living or dead doppelgangers disappear."

"Disappear?" Beatrice asked.

"Yes…and supposedly so does the memory of them. So no one that knew Katherine and Elena will actually remember them."

"Well, maybe…" Elena started, but before she could finish, Damon placed his hands on her shoulders and shook her slightly.

"No, that's NOT an option. I thought you stopped with the suicide missions…"

"Damon…"

"I won't let anything happen to you, Elena! I can't…"

"Damon…"

"I just…"

"Damon!"

"Yes," he finally said in a softer tone.

"I was going to say, before I was rudely interrupted," she said giving Damon a cold glace. "That maybe we can use this in our advantage..."

***season three – off the wagon***

"You ok?" Elijah asked, stepping over the doorsill to join Adney on the terrace.

"Let me see… kill my father and save the world, or let him kill two innocent people and ruin the life of many others to get my mother back from the grave…? Tough decision…no, I'm not ok," Adney said; his gaze stuck on a big tree in front of him. His face was so concentrated you'd think he was counting the leaves…if only it wasn't end of November and there weren't any leaves to be seen.

"Most decisions concerning the world's wellbeing are tough…"

"Didn't the thought cross your mind?"

"The thought of letting my brother bring Elisaveta back?" Elijah asked, but didn't wait for an answer; he knew well enough that that was the question Adney wanted an answer for. "A few centuries ago I would've done it myself…"

"What changed?"

"I finally grew up," he smiled, but his smile faded before Adney even got to see it. "I realized that your mother would've never wanted that and I knew that I had to respect her decision."

"She loved you, you know? I read her journals…the way she wrote about you…I could tell. Did you love her?"

"More than I ever loved anything…" Elijah answered in a sad voice.

"Then why did you let her go through all that alone?"

"Well…at first I was hurt and confused…she wrote me a letter and told me she loved Klaus and she would always love him; she told me not to look for her. That if she didn't want to be found no one would find her and I believed her. She was smart… of course, a few weeks later I found out my brother and my family had banished her from the country and I started looking for her. When I found her, she told me she was pregnant with my brother's child. Now that I think about it, it shouldn't have stopped me from taking care of her; after all, she never promised me anything, she was married to _him_, but I was young and stupid…I found my brother and apologised, that's when I pledged my loyalty to him…"

"But…now you're fighting against him…" Adney said, sounding confused.

"Well, when he started killing my family one by one, I realized that he wasn't the brother I knew and respected; he had turned into a monster, obsessed with breaking that curse… and so I chose my family over him."

"Why was he so desperate to break the curse, he was pretty powerful even as a vampire?"

"He never fit; he didn't belong with the vampires and he didn't belong with the werewolves so he wanted to create his own race… which sounds pathetic if you think about it, right?"

"I guess…I understand where he's coming from though…"

***season three – off the wagon***

"I just want you to understand why am I doing this," Elena said and Jeremy shook his head.

"No, I don't; it's not like you can fight…you're not even helping them. I'm sorry, but I just think it's stupid, this whole plan of yours is stupid."

"I need to do this for myself, Jeremy. Klaus took everything from me. He took my aunt, my biological parents, my boyfriend…even my life. When he goes down, I want to be there; I _need_ to be there. On the bright side, if anything happens to me, you'll be able to see me as a ghost," Elena said smiling.

"You're not…this is not funny, Elena; you're all I have left…"

"Hey…" Elena reached out and pulled her brother into a tight hug. "It will be ok; nothing will happen to me, I promise, I'll be careful. Plus, Damon will be there, and he will never let anything happen to me," she said confidently. If there was anything in this world she was completely sure of, it was the fact that Damon would always protect her.

"Just…please come back!" Jeremy whispered.

"I will."

***season three – off the wagon***

"Because I need a second base in case something goes wrong, Blondie," Damon said, his eyes open wide, trying to make the young vampire understand his words.

"But…what if…what if something happens to Elena? I can be her bodyguard…"

"Do you really think I'll let anything happen to her?"

"No…" Caroline admitted.

"Tatiana, Neo and Alexander will be here as well."

"Just…be careful…" Caroline whispered and Damon just nodded slightly.

Damon came out of Caroline's room and found himself face to face with Tatiana.

"Oh, come on, champion, don't go soft on me now!" she said, noticing the sad and conflicted expression on Damon's face.

"Take care of them, would you?"

"I will. You have my word that my dear brother won't get anywhere near them."

"Thank you."

"Now you can relax, everything will be good and you and your girl will be free again."

"Yes…"

"You don't sound very enthusiastic about it…"

"Let's just say that Klaus wasn't really the problem to begin with," Damon finally said after a few moments of silence.

"Stefan…" she guessed.

"Yes, Stefan, my brother, the man she still loves, the one she'll never give up on," Damon said. He didn't expect Elena to give up on Stefan, he didn't even want her to; Stefan was his brother and he would do anything in his power to get her back.

"So you're willing to give her up without a fight?" Tatiana asked.

"She deserves more…"

"Then do more and fight for her! You fought for her life, now fight for her heart…although I don't think it will be much of a fight since she's clearly in love with you," she said and when Damon finally opened his mouth to answer, he realized he would be talking to himself.

***season three – off the wagon***

"What are you doing here on the roof? I looked for you everywhere," Damon asked, stepping over the windowsill.

Elena was on her back, with her hands under her head and didn't move as Damon slowly approached her.

"I'm watching the stars…" she said. "Did you know that some of them don't even exist anymore, even though we still see them?" she finally moved her head to the left and looked at him. "Yes, they exploded, but their light can take years to reach the earth, so…" there was a moment of silence before Elena finally broke it. "Stay here with me a little while?"

He did as told and laid down beside her. Elena turned towards him and looked directly into his eyes.

"If something goes wrong tomorrow and Klaus kills us all…"

"Elena…" Damon interrupted, but she didn't let him finish.

"Just let me say this!" he nodded and she continued. "If we don't survive this, I just want… I want you to know something…" she took a deep breath in a failed attempt to stop the tears from leaving her sparkly eyes, "…I want you to know that…I love you," she finally said and Damon raised an eyebrow at her.

"As a friend…" he figured.

"No, Damon… I mean, of course I care about you as a friend, but I love you like a woman loves a man. It makes sense… because when I think about something happening to you, I can't breathe…"

And then there was silence…and more silence…

"Say something!" Elena shouted.

"Do you know the feeling when you want something more than anything in the world, but you just know there's no way in hell it's going to happen; and then one day it happens, and you just don't know how to react?" Damon asked and Elena smiled weakly.

"Well, it happened…" she mumbled.

"Elena…" he murmured her name, taking her left hand into his.

"You're a great man, Damon Salvatore, and don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise!"

"I won't, as long as you'll be there to remind me," he said.

"Always…"

"Promise me!"

"I promise."

Elena looked back at the sky, shiny stars sparkling in her eyes, hiding her tears. She took a deep breath and turned her head back to Damon.

"Promise me you won't do anything stupid!"

"I won't."

"I can't lose you, Damon…" a tear left her eye and Damon used his index finger to wipe it off her nose. "…promise me you'll be careful, promise me!"

"I promise."

"Thank you," she said in a wiper and then they just stood there holding hands and watching the sky until the lightened and the morning fog covered the stars.

***season three – off the wagon***

"What happened? Did you find Katerina?" Klaus asked as soon as the door closed behind Stefan.

"I know where she is," Stefan said with a smirk.

"Perfect, perfect; we will go tonight," Klaus informed Stefan and got out of the room.

Stefan pulled his cellphone out of his pocket and texted his brother, hoping he wasn't making a big mistake agreeing to go against Klaus.

'_He will be there.'_

Damon read the message and informed the others that the plan was on for that night. They were ready to wait a few days, but it looked like Klaus wasn't.

***season three – off the wagon***

"Are you sure this is the place you saw her?" Klaus asked and Stefan nodded.

"I've been expecting you…" a voice came from behind the house and soon a man came into sight.

"And you are?" Klaus asked, a little surprised.

"I'm a gift from Katerina," the guy said and Klaus raised an eyebrow at him. He looked in Stefan's direction like he was expecting an explanation, but Stefan just shrugged and Klaus returned his attention to the stranger that had a confidence Klaus didn't like.

"Katerina… and where is she?"

"That's not important. I think you and I should have a talk…"

"Really?"

"I heard you're looking for me…after what…over a 1000 years you finally decide you want to know your son?"

"My…"

"Son…" Klaus turned around immediately at the sound of his mother's voice. She was standing just a few steps ahead of him, just as beautiful and pure as he remembered her.

"Mother, what are you…how…"

"I'm here to say goodbye, Nick," she said, closing the distance between them and cupping his left cheek. "I love you, baby. I always will, but this needs to be done…" a few tears slipped on her cheeks and she immediately brushed them away.

"You didn't really think we'd all just stay dead forever, did you?" Elijah asked.

"No…although I was hoping for it," Klaus said, not at all surprised by the fact that his brother was there as well.

"I wouldn't miss the day you'd finally be dead for anything."

"That won't happen; none of you can kill me…"

"No, but I can," Adney yelled from behind him.

"This…you betrayed me, didn't you?" Klaus shouted and rushed towards Stefan, but suddenly someone was in his way and the stake entered her chest, right between her breasts.

"Katherine…no…no…" Stefan yelled, rushing towards her.

"Wrong doppelganger, I was looking for the other one…I know you're here, Elena, come out my dear! Come out or I'll kill your precious Salvatore brothers…" he said and Elena stepped away from behind a big old tree.

"Now that's more like it, the whole gang's here; no, wait where's the little witch? Oh wait, she's dead," he said and started walking towards Elena at normal, human speed.

"You…" Klaus said, pointing towards Elena, "…or them?" he asked, pointing towards Stefan and Damon.

"Me; kill me, leave them alone!" Elena said without thinking twice about it.

"How noble of you to give your life for two vampires, two monsters, two predators…"

Stefan was still curled up above Katherine who was more dead-_ish_ than usual… he finally found the courage to pull the stake out of her chest and that's when he noticed the stake was actually a pointy piece of _metal_.

Tears of joy were pouring from his eyes, no matter how much he tried to hold them in. As unbelievable as it sounded, he was 'happy' she would eventually wake up. He didn't really have time to think about her and him…about them, about the way he felt about her. He found himself willing to protect her and make sure there'd be yet another day to see her…but he still didn't forget that she broke his heart…and then there was Elena; sweet, caring Elena…yeah, he was confused.

"Enough of this; I have the power to end it and so I shall," Adney said and took a few steps back before running towards 'his father' at full speed, jumping over his body in full werewolf form. It wasn't long before Klaus himself shifted and soon they were just two wolves growling and attacking each other.

"Now…I need you to distract Klaus now!" Beatrice shouted and Damon and Elijah went after Klaus.

"You know what to do, no matter what, keep the story!" Elena said pulling the black and red dearth from her pocket.

***season three – off the wagon***

Klaus manage to bite Elijah twice and he almost bit Damon before he heard Beatrice yell Elena's name. Damon immediately turned around and saw Elena at Beatrice's feet; blood coming out from what it seemed like every single inch of her body. His whole existence flashed before his eyes; every minute he spent with her, every word she ever spoke to him, every caress and every breath she ever took.

He was on his knees by her side in less than a split second.

"What the hell happened? I was away for only a minute? How…who…why? How could you let this happen?" Damon shouted to Beatrice.

"Damon…I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I was distracted by Klaus as he bit Elijah and I didn't see it coming…"

"Who?"

"A vampire…one of Klaus's vampires, I suppose…I was fast, but not fast enough…God, Damon I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry…" she mumbled.

"No…Elena…please baby, hold on…she's not breathing, Beatrice…why isn't she breathing? Do something…God, please Beatrice you have to…you can't let her…"

"There's nothing I can do Damon. I can't play with life and you know that…"

Not long ago Damon would've proved to everyone that he didn't have a heart, but right now, he could practically feel his heart break in his chest. The light of his darkness, the main reason for his whole existence was lying breathless in his arms. Her hair a beautiful mess…a few dead leaves were painting a pretty picture over her head and Damon brushed them away. He passed his finger through her hair…her _curly_ hair…

"What the…Katherine?" he yelled as soon as he realized who he was holding.

"I'm sorry, Damon, but you wouldn't have let me do it otherwise," Beatrice whispered and before Damon could ask, he heard Elena scream. He turned around and saw Klaus moving away from her, only this time it was really Elena and she was hurt…bitten by Klaus.

He rushed to her side and grabbed her hand in his.

"Elena…what have you done?" he asked and she opened her eyes and smiled weakly.

"Damon…" she murmured and Damon lowered his head so she wouldn't feel the need to speak up. The last thing he wanted was to waste her energy. She squeezed his hand slightly and he was grateful she still had the force to do that.

"I'm sorry…" was all she said before her eyes closed and she let go of his hand.

"The only thing I can do is stop the bleeding and heal her internal organs, but she'll have to fight on her own the rest of the way," Beatrice said, kneeling at Damon's side.

She placed her hands on Elena's abdomen and started rambling something that Damon picked out as a mix of Latin and Rumanian; once she was done, she fainted; her body dropping to the ground just beside Elena's.

***season three – off the wagon***

As soon as his fangs pierced Adney's skin, Klaus pulled back and fell to the ground a few feet away, growling and moaning in pain. The torment lasted just a minute or two, but for everyone expecting to see if the plan worked and they finally managed to kill Klaus, it seemed like hours. He finally took his last breath and turned back to his human form. But his skin was white and gray and his lips turned purple.

His mother rushed to his side and crushed to the ground, placing his head in her lap. Shaky sobs took over her body and no one dared to stop her mourning process.

***season three – off the wagon***

They'd won the battle, but no one really felt like a winner.

Stefan was caring for Katherine;

Damon was caring for Elena;

Elijah was caring for Adney;

Ophelia was caring for her son's DEAD body;

Alaric was caring for Beatrice.

***season three – off the wagon***

Jeremy woke up almost screaming and Charity jumped out of bed at supernatural speed, asking him what was wrong.

"Nothing…it was a dream…just a dream," Jeremy mumbled uncomfortably. He fell quiet, ashamed for acting like a little girl and scaring his 'date' out of bed.

"Don't ever, _ever_ do that to a vampire; I could've killed you!" she shouted, getting back in bed, right beside him. "Are you ok?" she asked, genuinely concerned.

"Yeah…I am…" he murmured, trying to get out of bed, but Charity stopped him.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

It was almost morning, but the sun hadn't risen yet, so it was still dark outside which, after that particular dream, kind of freaked Jeremy out.

"I'm going to turn on the lights if that's ok with you," he said and she smiled weakly.

"I got it," she said and flipped her hand, which caused the light to turn on.

"Wha…how did…are you a…"

"A vampire witch? Yes, I am…" she answered.

"Oh…" that was all Jeremy got out…

"I'm sorry, Jeremy, but I…I'm actually not here by mistake, or for you I'm afraid…" she stated in a sad tone. She got out of bed, took a few steps and took a seat by the edge. "The thing is…I don't know how much sense this would make to you or even if you'll know what I'm talking about, but I'll tell you anyway, cause I believe you need to know and I owe you that," she said and Jeremy raised an eyebrow at her, waiting for her to continue.

"Hmm…how do I put this…The Order's back…and they want _her_ dead…" she finally managed.

"Who?" Jeremy asked, confused.

"Your sister…" Charity answered after a few moments of complete silence.

**N**: _Here you go, this is it I hope you liked it and I certainly hope you'll keep an eye out for the next one – which will answer most of your questions as in: why Elena had to be bitten by Klaus and wha's the deal with the loving two half-brothers curse as well as more about this vampire-witch and the New Order._

_Thank you for staying with me and please don't forget to review! _


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